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IMMORTALITY, 



AND 



OUR EMPLOYMENTS HEREAFTER. 



WITH 



WHAT A HUNDRED SPIRITS, GOOD AND EVIL, 
SAY OF THEIR DWELLING PLACES. 



BY 



J. M. PEEBLES, M.D., 

AUTHOR OP " SEEKS OF THE AGES," " TRAVELS ABOUND THE WOULD," " SPIRITUALISM 

DEFINED AND DEFENDED," " JESUS, MYTH, MAN, OE GOD ? " " CONFLICT 

BETWEEN SPIRITUALISM AND DARWINISM," " CHRIST THE CORNER 

STONE OF SPIRITUALISM," "BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY 

FACE TO FACE," " PARKER MEMORIAL HAI 

LECTURES," ETC., ETC. 







Jlo.M ih ( 



The belief in a world of spirits, and of the intercourse with men — 
these being the cardinal truths of Spiritualism — is the only belief that 
has always and everywhere prevailed. 

Dr. Eugene Crowell. 

Am I to live on after my body is dead ? Then it concerns me to 
know where. What answer comes to me from the land beyond ? 

M. A. (OXON.) 



BOSTON : 
COLBY AND RICH, PUBLISHERS, 

9 Montgomery Place. 

1880. 



T 



tf; 



s 



COPYRIGHT, 

l88o, 

By Jas. M. Peebles, M. D. 



u 



Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
No. 4 Pearl Street. 



9 



y ?/ 



DEDICATED 



MARY M. PEEBLES, 

A TRUE WOMAN, 

AND 

A DEVOTED CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALIST. 






PREFACE. 



Give us details — details and accurate delineations of life in the 
Spirit World! — is the constant appeal of thoughtful minds. 
Death is approaching. Whither — oh, whither! Shall I know 
my friends be} T ond the tomb ? Will they know me ? What is their 
present condition, and what their occupations? 

Too long, perhaps, have we listened to generalities and vague 
imaginations touching that so-called shadowy realm of existence 
whither we are hastening. 

When a traveler starts out for some distant country, it is not 
enough for him to know that he must cross some stornry ocean, but 
he asks, " What is the distance to those foreign countries? What 
is the character of the climate ? What modes of living distinguish 
the inhabitants, and what preparation will I need to make for 
comfort and success in that far-away country ? " If this be true of 
the earthly traveler, how much more important are inquiries and a 
right understanding relative to the journey across the River of 
Death ; the conditions and modes of life in the World of Spirits ? 
These are pressing questions ! And as travelers return to tell us 
of the countries they have visited, so spirits return from different 
spheres and golden zones, describing their homes and their employ- 
ments. 

In this volume the Spirits, differing as they may, are allowed to 
speak for themselves. Though sometimes condensing and modify- 
ing their language, I have carefully preserved the essential ideas 

5 



6 PREFACE. 

embodied in their messages. And in the last chapter I have given 

a resume of their teachings without the mention of the names of 

the controlling intelligences. 

I send this volume forth with my pikers and best wishes, hoping 

it may answer the soul questions of many earnest inquirers, and 

inspire to an active faith in the glorious realities of our Heavenly 

Home, and to earnest labors for the upbuilding of the Spiritual 

Kingdom on earth. 

J. M. P. 
Hammonton, N. J., 1879. 



INTBODUCTION. 






We stand to-day on the border land between two eternities — 
one past and full of treasured histories and multiplied experiences ; 
the other, future, teeming with possibilities which await us, and 
fraught with destinies whose moral grandeur we desire to fathom. 
Souls, allied to God, are eternal. We embrace in our present 
memory and knowledge but a fragment of life's past careers. The 
future, too, is a page we have scarcely opened. Its prophecies are 
golden. As the past yields up its vast treasures, the future becomes 
more easily interpreted. Events flow in an orderly succession. 
The accumulations of past time yield their wealth to the uncounted 
years. The cycles of growth repeat themselves for ever upon higher 
planes of expression. The soul is ever a questioner. From its 
earliest recorded experiences it has interrogated itself and the sur- 
rounding universe for a solution of the mystery of its being and 
the momentous changes that necessarily await it. 

The earliest literature of any people is sacred literature. The 
most exhaustive inquiries of the greatest minds of every age and 
nation have been inquiries pertaining to man's moral relations and 
the soul's future destiny. The religious literature of the race 
approaches nearest the character of immortality of all its mental 
products. When other books are forgotten, the sacred books con- 
tinue a perennial fountain of thought and inspiration. This is true 
of Egypt, India, Babylon, and all the countries of the Orient. The 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

ethics and religious teachings of Gautama Buddha exert a pro- 
founder influence over five hundred millions of the earth's inhabi- 
tants than all the other literature in the East, save the moral teach- 
ings of Confucius. 

The lyric songs of the prophets of Israel exert a sweeter influ- 
ence on the hearts of struggling and sorrowing millions than do the 
epics of Homer or Virgil. And what name imparts to us so much 
of obedience to the divine law, of devotion to principle, of love 
and sweetness and mercy, as that of Jesus Christ? What charac- 
ter among the pure and great equals his as a moral magnet to draw 
the world toward the good and beautiful, and to inspire the mil- 
lions with hope and childlike trust ? The victories of the primitive 
Christians, inspired by Jesus Christ, were the victories of peace 
and love. Before Constantine's day the Christian religion was a 
lamb ; afterward it became an aggressive lion. Now it is a tomb, 
comparatively cold and voiceless ! 

When we consider that it is as natural for men to think, to rea- 
son, as to breathe, how reasonable, then, these ever-recurring 
inquiries : Whence did man originate? What is he in his essential 
being? And what is to be his future and final destiny? To go 
deeper, and get, if possible, to the foundation, What is matter? 
What is the nature of that spirit substance which constitutes the 
spiritual body ? And what is the soul, that potentialized portion of 
the infinite Over-Soul, that thinks, wills, reasons, and aspires after 
immortality ? 

".-... Nor yet to all 

These prophecies and hints are given ; 
Only as signals, sparsely set, 
Along the battlements of Heaven. 

Yet some day, every waiting soul 
Shall see the mists slow rolling back, 
And, freed from clogs of earth and sin, 
"Walk calmly up the shining track ! " 

Are the planetary worlds that stud the firmament inhabited ? and 



INTEODUCTION. 9 

if so, are they morally related to us, and do they psychologically 
affect us ? What shall we be in the far-distant seons ? Upon what 
shall we subsist, and what shall be our employments during the 
measureless years of eternity ? 

If the moon is already dead, as Proctor teaches — if planets and 
satellites have their births and deaths, are there not then funeral pro- 
cessions among the stars? All change, negatively considered, is 
death. The Seer sees in ever}' pulse-beat change and waste — 
hears in every tremulous step the measured march of death. 
Every tick of the clock tells of the sufferings and stragglings of 
departed souls ! 

The seemingly dead tree of winter buds and blossoms in the 
spring-time. The Egyptian wheat, retaining the vitalizing life 
principle, lived and waved again though buried in darkness for 
thousands of years. But will the thinking soul live ? — live indi- 
vidualized — live to know and be known — live in immortal fresh- 
ness and beauty after the body dies and is laid quietly away in the 
grave ? 



IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE. 

" I do not doubt bat tbe majesty and beauty of tbe world are latent in any iota of the 

world ; 
I do not doubt that exteriors have their interiors — and that the eyesight has another 

eyesight, and the hearing another hearing, and the voice another voice ; . . . 
Did you think Life was so well provided for — and Death, the purport of all Life, is* 

not well provided for ? " Whitman. 

Life in some of its manifestations is everywhere. In polar 
glaciers, in tropic sands, and in the profoundest ocean depths, 
the life-principle is expressed in organic forms. The vitality 
of seeds belonging to the pre-glacial period has been clearly 
demonstrated. 

The raspberry seed is very tenacious of life. Three rasp- 
berry plants were raised from seeds found in the stomach of a 
man whose skeleton form had been discovered thirty feet be- 
low the surface of the earth, at the bottom of a burial-mound, 
opened near Dorchester, England. With this body had been 
buried some coins of the Emperor Hadrian, from which, ac- 
cording to the testimony of Dr. Lindley and Professor Win- 
chell, of the Michigan University, we are justified in assuming 
that these seeds had retained their vitality some 1,700 years ; 
and if so, why not, under similar conditions, 17,000 years, or 
even a much longer period ? 

11 



12 IMMOBTALITY. 

It is stated by Lord Lindsay that in the course of his wan- 
derings amid the pyramids of Egypt, he was permitted to 
assist in unrolling a mummy, the embalmers of which evi- 
dently understood the uses of ozone. The hieroglyphical 
writings upon the sarcophagus containing this embalmed form 
showed it to be about 3,000 years old. Examining the mum- 
mied body after it was unwrapped, there was found in one of 
the closed hands a bulb, which, when planted in a suitable 
situation, grew and bloomed out into a beautiful dahlia-like 
flower. 

None can reasonably doubt that there is growing in England 
at this present time wheat, the grains of which were obtained 
from the foldings in the wrappings of an Egyptian mummy, 
there deposited more than 4,000 years since. Professor Agas- 
siz fully credited this account ; while Dr. Carpenter, the dis- 
tinguished English physiologist, gives it full indorsement by 
saying, " there is really no limit to the latent vitality of seeds." 

Each individual, by virtue of cerebral organization, conceives 
and studies the universe from his own moral plane of thought. 
To Hans Christian Andersen the world was so aflame with 
love, and the moral universe so aglow with the symbols of 
Divine life and wisdom, that he saw good in, and immortality 
for, everything. Aware that seeds hidden from the sunshine 
for long periods break away from their cell-life, and put forth 
the tender blade, — aware that the insect and the house-fly 
outside of sheltering walls, becoming first dull, then seem- 
ingly dead, revive when warmed by the summer's sun, — 
aware that the dormouse lives with sealed mouth several 
months of the year ; that the live toad found in the center of 
a block of stone, and exhibited in the London Crystal Palace, 
must have existed there for centuries, and that the corn which 
had quietly slept in the tombs of Egypt for 4,000 years could 
be made to grow, — aware, as was the poet Andersen of all 
these marvelous phenomena in nature, he thus breathed his 
thoughts under the heading — " The Miracle." 



THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE. 13 

"THE MIEACLE. 

" From a pyramid in the desert's sand 
A mummy was brought to Denmark's land — 
The hieroglyphic inscription told 
That the body embalmed was three thousand years old. 
It was the corpse of a mighty queen ; — 
Examining it, they found between 
Her closed fingers a corn of wheat ; 
So well preserved was this little seed, 
That, being sown, it put forth its blade, 
Its delicate stem of a light-green shade, 
The ear got filled with ripening corn, 
Full-grown through sunshine and light of the morn. 

" That wonderful power in a corn so small — 
It is a lesson to each and all. 
Three thousand years did not quench its germ — 
It teaches our faith to be strong and firm, 
When out of that husk a new plant could be born 
To ripen in sunshine and clew from the sky, 
Then, human soul, thou spark from on high, 
Thou art immortal as thy great Sire 
Whose praise is sung by the angel-choir ! 
The husk, the body is buried deep, 
And friends will go to the tomb and weep ; 
But thou shalt move on, on wings so free — 
For thine is the life of eternity. 
That wonderful power of so small a seed — 
The miracle seen in that corn of wheat, 
It puzzles the mind ; but still it is done 
By the Author of Life, the Eternal One." 

It is an open question whether atheism be possible. When 
Proclus pronounced that great word, Causation ; when Plato 
wrote of the Divine Logos ; when Tyndall dilates on the Po- 
tency in nature, Spencer upon the Unknowable, Zimmermann 
upon Intelligent Force, and Emerson upon the Absolute 
Over-Soul, they mean God — that Divine Presence upon 
whose pulsing, loving bosom is the soul's rest for ever. Why 
then so much useless, and often bitter, disputation when words 
at most are but the shadowy symbols of ideas ? 

It would seem to me like a paltry idling away of time to 
prove that, as a mortal being, I had an earthly father. Quite 
possibly I could not prove it. The evidence would be utterly 
beyond my reach. Still, I conscientiously believe it. And 



14 IMMOETALITY. 

so, by parity of reasoning, do I just as conscientiously believe 
that my spiritual nature had a Heavenly Father. 

The existence of space is no more a matter of necessity to 
my understanding than the existence of God. Thinking from 
the conscious Ego — the I am of Myself — I require no 
subtile trains of logic to demonstrate, to know that God 
is, and that God governs this orderly universe by immutable 
law. 

Primal truths are axiomatic. It is a want of intuition and 
moral perception that necessitates so many processes of rea- 
soning. 

Full of trust, I consciously see God, the Divine Energy , 
everywhere, — pulsating in the growing corn, purpling in the 
vineyard, blushing in the peach, smiling in the sunshine, and 
awing us as we gaze into infinite depths filled with stars, cir- 
cling suns, and systems of universes. 

There is no conflict between science and religion, since 
they present two aspects of the same cosmos : one treating of 
the quality of being, the other treating of its quantitative 
distribution. The real conflict is between science and secta- 
rian theology ; and the chasm deepens. The mere scientist, 
ever cold and semi-blind, sees but half the universe — the 
material side — the shell. With this he experiments. And 
the little knowledge he thus obtains rests, after all, upon faith, 
— faith in his five senses, and faith in the precision of his 
investigations. 

Can the telescope penetrate infinity? Can the physicist 
explain the mechanism by which the heliotrope turns to the 
sun, or the marvelous chemistry by which the turbot assumes 
the color of the ground over which it swims ? Can the mi- 
croscope detect grief in the brain, or the stethoscope sound 
the depths of human aspirations ? Did the scalpel ever dis- 
cover a thought in the convolutions of the cranial cavity? 
Can love be measured with a rod, or hope weighed in a pair 
of scales ? The soul and all its mental operations — the soul 
and all the spiritual forces connected therewith — are utterly 
beyond the scope of the physical sciences. 



THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE. 15 

All organic life begins in a simple cell. Every organized 
structure is but an aggregation of these cells ; and not only 
the specific form which the aggregate assumes, but the dis- 
tinctive character of each component cell depends upon a 
soul-germ or pre-existing type which embodies the genius or 
idea of which the material structure is, plus the influences of 
the environment, the expression. 

" A single elementary atom," says that prince of modern 
philosophers, Professor Balfour Stewart, " is a truly immor- 
tal being, and enjoys the privilege of remaining unaltered by 
the powerful blows that can be dealt against it." 

No solid thinker believes in the destructibility of either 
matter or spirit. The conservation of spiritual energies is as 
true as the demonstrated conservation of forces. 

The soul being a living force, is necessarily immortal. It is 
the visible and phenomenal forms and qualities only that 
change. The celestial angels ever see these elementary at- 
oms, — these conscious monads that exist in the golden splen- 
dor of their underived immortality. Infilled with pure spirit, 
— aflame with the divine life, — these monads, these " firsts " 
of things, vibrate, rotate, repel, unite, form organic relations, 
and, in obedience to the laws of universal order, take on an 
ultimate expression by becoming incarnated in a material 
form. 

Consciousness is coeval and coordinate with life. What we 
commonly consider our soul is not, logically speaking, ours ; 
but we are its. The soul — a potentialized and individual- 
ized portion of the Over-Soul, God — is the man. Life is the 
aromal garment of the spirit, and its most immediate vehicle 
of expression. The spiritual is the real, the permanent, and 
each mortal is in the spirit world now, though veiled from its 
surpassing glories by the material organism. The Divine Or- 
der prescribes the descent of the soul into a mortal body, and 
by that descent the spiritual perceptions become temporarily 
dimmed ; they are folded away, as it were, in a casket, and 
lie in a state of partial inaction during the night-season of 



16 . IMMORTALITY. 

earthly unfoldment, preparatory to the splendors of a new 
cycle of wakefulness and unobscured lucidity. 

Absence of consciousness is no proof of non-existence, inas- 
much as sleep and wakefulness are alternating states of the 
thinking man ; and these states should not be confounded 
with the subject to which they relate. The individual who 
becomes blind from a cataract upon the eye is still in the same 
world. Traveling, even into foreign countries, does not help 
him to the light; but remove the film, and he readily per- 
ceives that the light is all around him. The spiritual senses 
are so eclipsed, so bleared with the material, that we do not 
see the spiritual world that bathes and enfolds us like a crys- 
tal ocean. 

Electricity, light, magnetism, interstellar ether, — these are 
only the etherealized envelopes and elastic vehicles of spiritual 
forces. Certain conditions develop or bring into outward ex- 
pression their potentialities. And laws, so called, are the 
deific methods, the defined order in which the Divine Pres- 
ence operates. Essential Spirit alone interpermeates and 
constitutes the qualities of all things. There are no abstract 
qualities, — that is to say, qualities abstracted from their sub- 
stances. They inhere in them. Strength is not outside of 
the being that exercises it. Acid properties do not exist 
apart from the substances containing them. So love, good- 
ness, truth, are* not abstract powers, but necessary attributes 
that inhere in the very constitution of every sentient being, 
whether man or angel. Accordingly, men and women are 
spirits now. They live and walk in the spirit world, though 
encased in mortal clothing ; their sensations, qualities, and 
all their higher emotions, are also spiritual, yet veiled for the 
present under the vestured disguise of matter. 

It will be admitted that extension, divisibility, and inertia 
are among the principal attributes of matter. But be this as it 
may, matter at most is only the unreal, shadowy shell of things 
— the passive or statical condition for the action of force. It 
serves as the limiting wall for the utilization of spiritual 
energies. It is the background upon which the panorama of 



THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE. 17 

creation is projected. It is the agent of. reaction, as the coun- 
terpoise to action, without which equilibrium and the perpe- 
tuity of movement would be impossible. 

The theory that force is an attribute of matter is disproved 
by the fact of inertia. It cannot change its state. It will 
ultimately be shown, I believe, that inertia is the sole attri- 
bute of matter, while the other properties usually ascribed 
to it are simply secondary qualities which inertia involves. 
Force, therefore, is the antithesis of matter, not simply one 
of its attributes. Will is the single attribute of force, and 
will is self-determining, — not motion, but the antecedent of 
motion, and the antithesis of inertia. 

" All that we can affirm of matter," says the learned Clerk 
Maxwell, " is that it is the recipient of impulse and of en- 
ergy." And yet materialists, and doubtless the majority of 
ordinary men, have come to think from their long familiarity 
with matter that physical forms constitute the only real, that 
matter is more permanent and substantial than spirit. This is 
a fatal mistake. Few will dispute that the concrete forms of 
matter, when reduced to the last analysis, are little more than 
a filmy appearance, an illusion that dazzles to blind. 

Take a bit of the hardest granite rock. " How solid, how 
firm and substantial," jovl say. Let us see. I pass it into 
the hands of the chemist. He applies to it a most intense 
heat, and it becomes a fiery liquid ; increasing the heat, it 
becomes a fleecy, limpid fluid ; augmenting it still, it is trans- 
formed into a gaseous mist lighter than air ; continue to inten- 
sify the heat, and it utterly vanishes from sight. .There, O 
mistaken materialist, is your matter, your hard granite rock, 
composed of mica, feldspar, and quartz, driven to a liquid — 
to a fluid — to gaseous mist — driven from sight — vanished 
— gone ! And so with everything that the hand can touch, 
the physical eye see, the senses cognize. 

Analysis resolves the seen into the unseen, and the dulled 
senses pale away before our deeper spiritual nature which re- 
cognizes the invisible and enduring reality. 

" What do you know of angels and spirits, or even of spirit, 
2 



• 



18 IMMORTALITY. 

per se?" said a very self-contained Secularist to me in Eng- 
land. 

As much, sir, in all probability, as you know about matter, 
was my reply ; and especially when matter, through analysis, 
is transformed into a state of invisibility. 

" But matter and material things may be seen, handled, 
felt, and actually tested by the senses." 

And so may spirits, when, by the law of materialization, 
they desire to demonstrate a future existence. 

" I've never seen anything of the kind." 

That is quite probable. And then, possibly, you have not 
seen the Brahmans in their burning-ghauts ; the Parsees in 
their temples ; the Pope in St. Peter's ; nor me, with whom 
you converse. It is only the body you see. 

" But I fancy (taking hold of my arm) that I feel and see 
you." 

Nothing — nothing of the kind, sir. You only feel and see 
the shell, the vesture, the traveling-dress, in which I, the 
man. am at present attired. " Never do I tire," said Socrates, 
" of telling the wise man that the body is not the man." 

" Very well ; you must know that our knowledge depends 
upon our senses. And, as a man professing some knowledge 
of science, I accept the reality of nothing that I cannot de- 
monstrate, — I believe nothing that I cannot see, hear, taste, 
weigh, or is in some manner made to appeal to my physical 
senses. And further, sir, I think, or, rather, I have an idea." 

Stop — stop right there ! You say you have an idea. De- 
nying it for the moment, I propose to test you by your own 
method. You say you think — say that you have an idea. 
But I deny it in toto, and call upon you to prove it, — ■ to 
demonstrate it by an appeal to any one, or all of my five 
natural senses. Bring out that " idea " of yours, and let me 
see it — let me hear it — taste it — feel it — or let me weigh 
it in a pair of scales ! What is the color ? what the shape ? 
and what the density of that idea of yours ? . . . 

This system of reasoning, on the part of materialists, fails 
to convince the intellect or meet the noblest aspirations of the 



< 



n 



THE MYSTERIES OP LIFE. 19 

human soul. Thinkers ought to understand, so it seems to 
me, that all laws, principles, aspirations, thoughts, ideas, and 
unseen forces are, while imponderable and invisible, allied to 
the spiritual realm of existence, the realm of the real, the per- 
petual, the permanent, and the immortal ! 

Mortal life is only an incident — a tremulous eddy in the 
cycling stream of time. We are the dead ; human bodies are 
little more than graves. The departed, the invisible, are the 
truly living. The apostle of old denominated the body the 
" temple of God ; " while an ancient prophet, writing under 
the divine afflatus, termed the soul " the candle of the Lord.'' , - 
This candle, this luminous spark of divinity, incarnated in 
the templed organism, manifests itself through the cranial 
organs, and shines out through the features. It takes cogni- 
zance of earthly things, gathers rich experiences, builds up and 
perfects the spiritual body, and, awaiting deliverance, is finally 
translated in the resurrection chariot to the world of spirits, 
the homes of the angels, the many-mansioned house of the 
Father. 

" Among them cherub shapes of childhood glide ; 
Maidens are there with waving locks of gold ; 
And manhood in its glory and its pride, 
And age no longer old ! 

And he, the last that left us, whose young life — 

By laughing, promise-laden breezes driven — ■ 
Disdained to meet the rude world's noisy strife, 

And sought the calm of Heaven, — 

I'm sure I see him in his radiant rest, 

Among his angel kindred up on high, 
And honored as befits the latest guest 

They welcome to the sky. 



Ours is the darkness ; theirs the boundless day ; — 
They drink true life ; we draw the labored breath ; • 

They have eternal sunshine on their way ; 
We have the gloom of death. 

Yet, nearing the cold river, I rejoice 

That when I pass its darkness and its roar, 

All these will welcome me with heart and voice 
Upon the further shore." 






20 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER II. 

DOUBTS AND HOPES. 

" And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us the stone away from the door 
of the sepulchre ? " Mark xvi. 3. 

"Yes, -who? There it lies- — hard, cold, inexorable; the stone of silence — the 
stone of utter, hopeless separation. Since the beginning of the world there it has 
been ; no tears have melted it ; no prayers pierced it. The children of men, surging 
and complaining in their anguish of bereavement, have dashed against it, only to melt 
hopelessly backward as a wave falls and goes back into the ocean. Nothing about the 
doom of death is so dreadful as this dead inflexible silence. Could there be, after the 
passage of the river, one backward signal — one last word, the heart would be 
appeased." Mrs. H. B. Stowe. 

" I GO clown to the grave with my son mourning," were the 
sorrowing words of a weeping patriarch, when bowed down 
with grief and broken in spirit. Dim and flickering in that 
distant period was the light of Judaism, and almost hope- 
less the despair of the Old Testament ! " The Jewish reli- 
gion," says Dean Stanley, "was characterized to a consider- 
able extent by the dimness of its conceptions relating to a 
future life." Bishop Warburton admits that the ancient 
Israelites " had no well-defined faith in the immortality of 
the soul." Other distinguished scholars have been candid 
enough to confess that the Hebrew Scriptures give but little 
encouragement to the hope of a future state of existence. 
Their rewards and their threatened punishments were tem- 
poral. The tenor of the Israelitish promises was, "If ye 
are obedient, if ye keep my statutes, ye shall eat of the good 
of the land." 

The following testimonies conclusively prove that the Jews 
had very little knowledge of a future life : 






DOUBTS AKD HOPES. 21 

1. Dr. Campbell observes : 

"It is plain that, in the Old Testament, the most profound silence is ohserved in 
regard to the state of the deceased, their joys or sorrows, happiness or misery." 

2. Dr. J aim says : 

" We have not authority decidedly to say, that any other motives were held out to 
the ancient Hebrews to pursue the good and to avoid the evil, than those which were 
derived from the reioards and punishments of THIS LITE." 

3. Professor JMayer writes : 

" But it is evident to the careful reader, that, both in the Book of Job and in the 
Pentateuch, the divine judgment which is spoken off, is alioays a judgment Which 
takes place in this life ; and the rewards which are promised to the righteous, and the 
punishments that are threatened to the wicked, are such only as are rewarded in the 
present state of being. . . . The idea that God is the Judge of the world pervades 
them [the writings of Moses] everywhere ; but it has always relation to this earthly 
existence." 

It is very evident that while the great body of the Hebrews 
doubted, trembled, wept over the prospects of a future 
immortality, the Saclducees boldly declared that there was 
" neither angel nor spirit." Hear the wail, the sad refrain of 
those early biblical writers ! 

" The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." 

Psalms cxv. 17. 

" Man being in honor abideth not ; he is like the beasts that perish." 

Psalms xlix. 12. 

" For the living know that they shall die ; hut the dead know not anything, neither 
have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten." — Eccl. ix. 5, 10. 

" For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the 
tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, 
and the stock thereof die in the ground ; yet through the scent of water it will bud, 
and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away : yea, man 
givcth up the ghost, and where is he ? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood 
decayeth and drieth up : so man lieth down and riseth not : till the heavens be no 
more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." Job xiv. 7-12. 

"His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that veiy day his thoughts 
perish." Psalms cxlvi. 4. 

"They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise." 

Isaiah. 

" They shall be as though they had not been." — Obadiah. 

" Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice 
in his own works, for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be 
after him ? " Ecclesiastes. 

" As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he that goeth down to the 
grave shall come up no more." Job. 



22 EVDIORTALITY. 

" I have said to corruption, Thou art my father ; to the worm, Thou art my mother, 
and my sister. And where is now my hope ? As for my hope, who shall see it ? " — Job. 
" They sleep with their fathers." —Moses. 

I "For that which befall eth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing be- 
falleth them : as the one dieth so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so 
that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast. . . . All go into one place ; all are of 
the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth up- 
ward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth." — Ecclesiastes. 

Compare these chilling, forbidding, silence-in-the-tomb pas- 
. sages of Scripture with Roman resignation and Grecian con- 
fidence in a sublime immortality — in a home among the gods. 

" When, therefore, death approaches a man, the mortal part of him, as it appears, 
dies, but the immortal part departs, safe and uncorrupted, having withdrawn itself 
from death." Plato. 

" As they who run a race are not crowned till they have conquered, so good men 
believe that the reward of virtue is not given till after death. . . . Not by lamenta- 
tions and mournful chants ought we to celebrate the funerals of the good, but by 
hymns ; for in ceasing to be numbered with mortals, they enter upon the heritage of 
a diviner life." Plutarch. 

" If my body be overpressed, it must descend to the destined place ; nevertheless my 
soul shall not descend, but, being a thing immortal, shall fly up to high heaven." 

Heeaclitus. 

" The soul is most certainly immortal and imperishable, and our souls really exist 
in the world of spirits. Those who shall have sufficiently purified themselves by phi- 
losophy [religion], shall live hereafter in more beautiful mansions. . . . For the sake 
of these things, we should use every endeavor to acquire virtue and wisdom in this 
life ; for the reward is noble and the hope is great. A man ought then to have confi- 
dence about his soul, if during this life he has made it beautiful with temperance, jus- 
tice, fortitude, freedom, and truth; he waits for his entrance into the world of spirits 
as one who is ready to depart when destiny calls. I shall not remain, I shall depart. 
Do not say then that Socrates is buried ; say that you bury my body." — Socbates. 

" This." said Plato, " was the end of the best, the wisest, and most just of men, — 
a story which good men never read without tears." 

" The origin of souls cannot be found upon earth, for there is nothing earthly in 
them. They have faculties which claim to be called divine, and which can never be 
shown to have come to man from any source but God. That nature in us which 
thinks, which knows, which lives, is celestial, and for that reason necessarily eternal. 
God himself can be represented only as a free Spirit separate from matter, seeing all 
things, and moving all things, himself ceaselessly working. Of this kind, from this 
nature, is the human soul. ... It cannot be destroyed." He represents the aged Cato 
as exclaiming, " O happy day when I shall remove from this crowd of mortals, to go 
and join the divine assembly of great souls. Not only shall I meet again there the 
men who have lived Godlike on earth ; I shall find again my son, to whom these aged 
hands have performed the duties which in the order of nature he should have rendered 
to me. His spirit has never quitted me. He departed, turning his eyes upon me and 
calling on me, for that place where he knew I should soon come. If I have borne his 
loss with courage, it is not that my heart was unfeeling, but I consoled myself with 
the thought that our separation would not be long." Cicero. 



DOUBTS AND HOPES. 23 

It was not to the realization of Brahman and Buddhist, to 
sturdy Roman and cultured Greek, that Jesus — as Paul 
taught — brought to light "life and immortality." They had 
long walked in the shimmering shadows of this light. But 
Jesus brought it to li^ht to those more sensuous Jews who 
"sat in the shadow of death;" brought it to light through 
phenomenal marvels and the practical exemplification of a 
most divine and spiritual life. 

Illumined by the Christ-Spirit, highly inspirational, fellow- 
shiped by angels, and standing upon the very pinnacle of 
that Hebrew Spiritualism which was foreshadowed by the 
prophets, Jesus conversed upon the mountain with Moses and 
Elias, each long in spirit-life. Aflame with divine truth, he 
had at his command a legion of angels ; and after his cruci- 
fixion he appeared, identified himself, and walked about in 
his spirito-materialized body for forty days ! 

These spiritual wonders brought to light " life and immor- 
tality ; " that is, the light and knowledge of a future exist- 
ence to all those who witnessed his superhuman works. And 
oh, how glorious this light to the sad, the sick, and the dying ! 
Belief in a future state is natural, and the Jews, previous to 
Jesus' time, were not wholly without that light " that lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world." 

This mortal life, as compared with eternity, is but momen- 
tary — a brief series of changes — a lengthened dying. And 
is it not, after all, just as natural to die ; and should it not 
be just as pleasant as to lay off the old garment when it 
becomes soiled and faded from wearing ? The body at best 
is little more than a tattered raiment, and the evening of life 
ought to deepen on towards the inviting grave as quietly, 
serenely, as dusk fades and shades off into the darkness that 
precedes and prophesies of sunrise. 

"We are not sad to see the gathered grain, 
Is or when their mellowed fruits the orchards cast, 
Nor when the yellow woods shake down the ripened mast ; 
We sigh not when the. sun, his course fulfilled, 
Sinks where his islands of refreshments lie." 



24 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER III. 

DEATH AND THE BRIDGING OF THE RIVER. 

" Blessed is he, blessed are all men to whom the living wise God should grant those 
two everlasting powers, purity and immortality." Mazda, in the Avesta. 

" At the last, tenderly, 
From the walls of the powerful fortress'd house, 

From the clasp of the knitted locks — from the keep of the well-closed doors, 
Let me be wafted. 

Let me glide noiselessly forth ; 

With the key of softness unlock the locks — with a whisper, 

Set ope the doors,'' O Soul ! " Whitman. 

Out of nothing nothing comes, is the common rendering of 
ex niliilo nihil fit ; and there cannot be a plainer axiom. But 
if nothing cannot evolve or produce something the equiva- 
lent of substance, then the converse is equally true, that 
something cannot produce or become nothing. But man is 
something, and more — a conscious, thinking, rational being, 
yearning for a future life, and therefore immortal. Logic, 
then, is on the side of immortality. 

" Beings," says Schiller, " live only in their becoming. 
" Nature is spirit visible. Spirit is invisible nature ; and liv- 
ing is spirit becoming manifest as nature." 

Nature often moves by seemingly inverse methods. The 
decay of the dead leaf proves that there is a life-force within 
it. Men die as they grow, by degrees. Each white hair of 
the ao'ed is a dead hair. Brain-cells are consumed in the 

o 

process of thought. Each muscular or mental act is coinci- 
dent with disorganizing dying cells ; and dying cells prophesy 
of the becoming, of the living form, the conscious act. But 
from whence the brain-cell? It is fashioned from proto- 
plasm by that mysterious principle called life, which domi- 



DEATH AND THE BRIDGING OF THE EWER. 25 

nates the organism. Marvelous, indeed, are these methods 
of nature. Vegetable and animal processes are each essential 
to complete the cycle of living forces. Vegetable growth is a 
process whereby inorganic matter is made living. The ani- 
mal structure builds its tissues from this prepared material, 
and in its voluntary activities consumes it again — causes it 
to die — and so returns it to the inorganic world. So the 
processes of thought involve the continual waste and death 
of the material vehicle. But the spiritual nature is supplied 
from another, a diviner fountain. 

When counter-forces and outside influences, through a su- 
perior potency, overcome these internal attractive forces that 
strive to maintain intact a given form, said form changes, de- 
composes, and dies into higher manifestations of life, fulfilling 
in all probability some better purpose in the economy of ex- 
istence. 

The acorn during the dreary chilliness of autumn time dies 
off from the parent stem, — dies, falls to the earth, and is 
buried ; but under the warming suns of spring, the swelling 
germ, the tender sapling, the towering oak, reveal the leafy 
life, the higher aim. 

Nature is a conservative prophet. The frowning storm 
preludes the calm, and darkness the morning sunshine. Res- 
urrections are all around us. And death is but a John-the- 
Baptistj crying of the coming Christ of immortalitj'. 

Form, life, consciousness, these are the triune ste'ps under 
the overshadowing Consciousness of that presence which a 
German philosopher denominated the Absolute, and which 
Paul pronounced " all and in all." 

It may not be amiss here to state the different standpoints 
from which we occasionally view the subjects under considera- 
tion. There are, then, three methods of aspecting the prin- 
ciples and phenomena of existence. 

First, we may view things in their natural order, or accord- 
ing to the method of evolution, which implies a procedure from 
the simple to the complex, from the low to the higher; sec- 
ondly, the logical order, in which mind, idea, spirit, life, and 



26 IMMORTALITY. 

function take precedence of organization ; thirdly, the celestial 
order, which is the method of involution, or procedure from 
inmost to outermost, from the spiritual to the physical, from 
the perfect to the imperfect, and from organization to proto- 
plasm. Hence when speaking from the celestial standpoint, 
we speak as though perfected forms are antecedent to all else ; 
and when speaking from the naturalistic standpoint, or view- 
ing things in their natural order, as they appear to immediate 
observation, then we present them by a reverse method. 

Generally considered, visible forms, beginning in the min- 
eral, and advancing into the vegetable, perfect themselves in 
the animal. 

Organic life, with voluntary motion, begins in the vegetable, 
advances into the animal, and perfects itself in the human. 

Intelligent consciousness, as an expression of mind and rea- 
son, begins in the animal, advances into the human, and per- 
fects itself in the spiritual. Unlike insects and animals, men 
are conscious of their consciousness ; while exalted spirits in 
the heavens are conscious not only of the earthly life they 
lived, but of their pre-existent states of being. 

The ancient Assyrians pictured death under the form of an 
angel tall and majestic. The Hebrews adopted the symbol, 
calling this angel Sammael. Grave in appearance, and full 
of eyes, he carried a naked sword from which fell three drops, 
one paling the countenance, one destroying the vitality, and 
the other forcing physical decay. Drinking from the cup he 
bore in his right hand was termed " tasting the bitterness of 
death." 

The more cold and sensuous of the ancient Romans repre- 
sented death as a winged lad with sad dejected countenance, 
bearing an inverted torch, and a poor, torn disfigured butterfly 
lying at his feet. 

The elder theologians, speaking and painting pen-pictures 
of death as the " king of terrors," and as that bourne from 
whence no traveler returns, often describe it as a grim, rat- 
tling skeleton with a scythe over its shoulder, madly travers- 



DEATH AND THE BRIDGING OF THE RIVER. 27 

ing the earth to mow down its teeming millions and consign 
them to judgment. 

It is still occasionally described as a" fowler spreading his 
net," and as a ghostly knight riding upon a " pale horse." 
And here are a few specimens of the long-ago hymns. sung at 
funerals. 

The mighty flood that rolls 

Its torrents to the main, 
Can ne'er recall its waters lost 

From that abyss again. 

And man, when in the grave, 

Can never quit its gloom 
Until the eternal morn shall wake 

The slumber of the tomb. 



The living know that they must die, 
But all the dead forgotten lie ; 
Their memory and their sense are gone, 
Alike unknowing and unknown. 

Princess, this clay must be your bed 

In spite of all your towers ; 
The tall, the wise, the reverend head, 

Must lie as low as ours. 

Hark from the tombs a doleful sound, 

Mine ears attend the cry ; 
Ye living men come view the ground 

Where you must shortly lie. 

Such cheerless withering words, with the black drapery 
displayed upon funeral occasions, all increase rather than di- 
vest death of its gloom and chilliness. The Chinese mourn 
in white. Egyptians in Ptolemy's time, and the emotional 
Greeks of two thousand years ago, had truer and clearer con- 
ceptions of death and the future life than have many plodding 
sectarians in this nineteenth century. 

44 Thou art not dead," said the Grecian. poet Prote when 
standing over the corpse of his friend ; but " thou hast removed 
to a better place, to dwell in the Islands of the Blest among 
abundant banquets. There thou art delighted, tripping along 
the Elysian fields among soft flowers, and free too from every 
ill of the mortal life." 



28 IMMORTALITY. 

In the divine light of present inspirations and spiritual 
revelations there is no death, — only incarnations, changes, 
and ceaseless successions of births. 

" On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, 
And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb." 

The poet Shelley tells of a Paradise-garden in which all 
sweetest flowers and all rare blossoms grew in perfect prime. 
This garden was tended by a wonderful spiritual lady, and all 
the flowers knew her and rejoiced in the influence that spread 
from her ; their sweetness passed into her, and hers was 
reflected in their bloom and fragrance. Suddenly she died, 
says the poet, and soon the garden and flowers came to per- 
ceive that she had passed away, and began to droop and 
die too ; roses and lilies withered away, the bright, sweet- 
scented Indian plants fell rotting in the mud, and the garden, 
once so fair, slowly changed into a foul, leafless wreck, or 
seemed to have done so, for as Shelley, with strange spiritual 
intuition, hints, that decay and death haply were " like all the 
rest a mockery." 

" What garden sweet, that lady fair, 
And all sweet shapes and odors there, 
In truth have never passed away, 
'Tiswe, 'tis ours, are changed ! not they." 

Seen in the light of the spiritual philosophy, and studied 
from the Mount of Vision, death is but a hyphen connecting 
the two worlds — is but a renunciation of the physical body 
— is but a flower-wreathed arch under which mortals march 
on one by one to the shining shores of immortality ; or it may 
be compared to the rosebud that climbs up the shaded garden- 
wall to bloom on the sunward side. 

There is no death ! The stars go down 

To rise upon some fairer shore, 
And bright in Heaven's jewelled crown 

They shine for evermore. 

There is no death ! The leaves may fall ; . 

The flowers may fade, and pass away, — 
They only wait through wintry hours 

The coming of the May. 



DEATH AND THE BRIDGING OF THE RIVER. 29 

There is no death ! An angel form 

Walks o'er the earth with silent tread ; 
He bears our dear loved ones away, • 

And then we call them — dead. 

He leaves our hearts all desolate — 

He plucks our fairest, sweetest flowers ; 
Transplanted into bliss, they now 

Adorn immortal bowers. 



But ever near us, though unseen, 
The dear immortal spirits tread ; 

For all the boundless universe 
Is life, — there are no Dead! 



30 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER IV. 

FORE-GLEAMS OF THE FUTURE. 

" My- whole nature rushes onward with irresistible force toward a future and a bet- 
ter state of being. Shall I eat and drink only that I may hunger and thirst, and eat 
and drink again till the grave which yawns beneath me shall swallow me up ?. Shall I 
beget other beings in my own likeness that they, too, may eat, drink, and die, and 
leave others behind to follow their example ? To what purpose this perpetually revolv- 
ing circle — this everlasting repetition in which things are produced only to perish, 
and perish only to be again produced — this monster continually swallowing up itself ? 
Never can this be my destiny, or that of the world. Something that is to endure must 
be brought forth in all these changes of the transitory and the perishable — something 
which may be carried forward safe and inviolate on the waves of time." Fichte. 

Take it to yourself; think of the last year, the last day, the 
last hour, the last moment, the last thought, and that thought 
annihilation! Oh, how the soul, mighty in her conscious gran- 
deur, shrinks back from such a worse than meaningless destiny ! 

Forgetting God for the moment, I have to say of nature, 
if she has given us ideals never to be attained, and aspirations 
never to be realized, then let her be despised and hated ; for 
nature, however potent, has no moral right to create in us 
deep, divine wants to live immortal, and then mock them — 
blast them with a resurrectionless death ! 

No one making pretensions to philosophical reasoning, talks 
nowadays of annihilation, of the transformation of substance 
into nothing, of the destruction of force, or of conscious life 
ultimating in death unconscious and eternal ! The universe 
can know no loss. " No motion impressed by natural causes, 
or by human agency, is ever obliterated. The ripple of the 
ocean's surface, caused by a gentle breeze, or the still water 
which marks the more immediate track of a ponderous vessel 
gliding with scarcely expanded sails over its bosom, are equally 
indelible." 



FOEE-GLEAMS OF THE FUTURE. 31 

The most ingenious chemist, with crucible and compound 
blowpipe, has not been able to annihilate the minutest atom 
of matter. What then of the Ego, the I am, that thinks, 
wills, reasons, and aspires after the blissful glories of immor- 
tality? 

" In the silver mines of Laurium," so says a late English 
journal, " among the refuse ore left by the ancient Greeks 
2,000 years ago, the seed of a species of glacium or poppy 
was found, which has slept in the darkness of the earth dur- 
ing all that time. After a little while, when the slags were 
brought up and worked off at the smelting ovens, there sud- 
denly arose a crop of glacium plants, with a beautiful yellow 
flower, of a kind unknown in modern botany, but described 
by Plato and others." 

Poppies of the age of Plato, 

With your sunny golden flowers, 
From two thousand years of slumber 

Welcome to this world of ours. 

Steadfast through the passing ages, 

Safe beneath the sands of Time, 
Changeless while all else was changing, 

Ye had slept a sleep sublime. 

Till the sun in royal splendor, 

Breaking on your silent bliss, 
Like the prince in fairy fable, 

Gently roused you with a kiss — 

Boused you to what wondrous changes ! 

Panting engines toil around, 
Unknown blossoms gleam beside you, 

Unknown races till the ground. 

Is your heritage of wisdom 

Fashioned for an earlier day, 
Unless midst our new conditions, 

Fitting things long passed away ? 



Plato's was an age of beauty, 
Great in song and great in art ; 

Say, could Man achieve such triumph 
Had not Nature borne her part ? 

Tell us, poppies, is it higher 
Now than in that joyous time 

When the giant poets chanted, 
And the world was in its prime ? 



32 IMMORTALITY. 

Essential spirit interpenetrates all substances, and is the life 
of all forms. Bacon is credited with saying that the kernels 
of nuts shrank and decayed after their spirits had left thern. 
The fact, if it be such, is worthy of thought There is cer- 
tainly a soul-life in every thing. Let the child carefully place 
some seeds in a dark drawer, and when seventy years have 
benumbed his limbs, and silvered his hairs, if he plant them 
they will spring into vigorous life, and blossoming bear pre- 
cious fruitage. 

It is related by M. Jouanet, that in the year 1635 several 
Celtic tombs were discovered near Begorac. Under the head 
of each of the dead bodies there was found a small, square 
stone or brick, with an aperture in each, containing a few 
seeds, which had been placed there beside the dead by the 
friends who had buried them perhaps 1500 or 1700 years be- 
fore. These seeds were carefully sowed by those who found 
them. What was seen to spring from the dust of the dead ? 
Beautiful sun-flowers and clover-bearing blossoms as bright 
and sweet as those which are woven into wreaths by the merry 
children now playing in our fields. 

"An acorn split into halves," says a modern writer, "and 
then examined with a powerful microscope, will reveal to the 
sight the would-have-been oak in miniature." The idea, the 
undeveloped spirit-tree, is there. " The permanence of spirit," 
says this same author, " may be further illustrated by the fact 
that, if you burn a rose, mingle the ashes with water, and lay 
them away into a quiet place, a scum will gradually gather 
upon the surface, and arrange itself into the form of the orig- 
inal flower." If this be true, it shows the persistence and 
potency of the spirit-form. The connecting link between 
spirit and matter, so far as scientists have been able to push 
their researches beyond mere physical appearances, has been 
denominated ether. Professor Tynclall, in treating of it, terms 
it " an all-pervading substance, more solid than gas, yet in- 
finitely more attenuated and elastic." This ether-world, un- 
seen to all save seers, is peopled with our departed loved 
ones. 



FORE-GLEAMS OF THE FUTURE. 33 

" It lies around us like a cloud, 
A world we do not see ; 
Yet the sweet closing- of an eye 
May bring us there to be." 

It is beautiful to die. Tombs are symbols, telling that men 
have risen therefrom to the higher life. 

The little jar is well enough to start the rose-slip in ; but it 
must be transplanted into the garden to reach perfection. I A 
all kneiv of a future existence as did the apostles of the past, or I 
as do the seers of the present, they could see their friends 
move on graveward as resignedly as they see them start for 
the college, or for a pleasure-trip to Europe. Heaven is the 
parlor of which this material life is the basement, the univer- 
sity of which this is the primary school, the inner sanctuary 
of holiness of which this is the outer court. Our towns and 
cities are man-made, but over there is the New Jerusalem 
whose builder and maker is God. 

The ideal is ever beyond us. " Oh," says the weary worker 
who drops his chisel before the marble, "I can imitate the 
natural object, but it does not answer my ideal; I want to 
achieve something better and nobler, and I can do it." " Oh," 
says the poet, " I can sing a still sweeter song." " Oh," says 
the philosopher, "there are more boundless depths of thought 
down which I can drop the plummet of my searching intel- 
lect." Man in this world is like a bird beating against his 
cage. There is something beyond. Oh, deathless soul, why 
so sigh, like a sea-shell, moaning for the bosom of the ocean. 
"Tell me not of a limitation," says the weary, broken heart, 
over the grave of its hopes. " Tell me not that this world is 
all," says the bereaved mother. " Tell me not that death is an 
eternal sleep," says the broken shadow of humanity. And 
feeling this great need of the soul, we cling to the Christ of the 
ages, cling to the golden visions of the prophets, cling to the 
present ministry of angels ! 

The faith of the trusting child in Wordsworth's poem is 
infinitely nearer the truth than many of the sermons of the 
present century. The poet meeting a little girl, asked, ' 
3 



34 IMMORTALITY. 

" ' Sisters and brothers, little Maid, 
How many may yon be ? ' 
' How many ? seven in all,' she said, 
And wondering looked at me. 

1 And where are they, I pray yon tell ? ' 

She answered, ' Seven are we ; 
And two of us at Conway dwell ; 

And two are gone to sea ; 

Two of us in the churchyard lie, 

My sister and my brother ; 
And in the churchyard cottage I 

Dwell near them with my mother.' 

' How many are you then ? ' said I, 

If they two are in Heaven ? ' 
The little Maid did still reply, 
' O master ! we are seven. 

But they are dead, those two are dead ! 

Their spirits are in Heaven ! ' 
'Twas throwing words away : for still 
The little Maid would have her will, 

And said, ' Nay, we are seven ! ' " 

To the heavenly-illumined miDcl of this little child, the dead 
were still alive and counted as a part of the family. And 
none of us should refer to the dead as if they were not. — 
should never speak of them as buried, — never say we have 
lost them, nor tell how we loved them. But rather should we 
say, " They have passed to the higher life: " and, " Oh, how we 
still love them!" The door that John "saw opened in 
heaven " has never been shut. 

The pains, spasms, and seeming anguish of the dying are 
only the efforts of the chained and imprisoned spirit to break 
away from its earthly coffin — the human body. It is beauti- 
ful to bury this casket in morning-time, just as the sun tips 
with gold the hills and the mountains. And it is in good 
keeping with the genius of the spiritual philosophy to put 
the loved one's chair at the table still, and also fragrant blos- 
soms. The angels love flowers — white roses and white lilies 
— because they symbolize purity and holiness of life. 

" And I sit and think, as the sunset's gold 
Is flushing: river and hill and shore, 



FORE-GLEAMS OF THE FUTURE. 35 

I shall one clay stand by the waters' cold, 

And list for the sound of the boatman's oar ; 
I shall watch the gleam of the flapping sail, 

I shall hear the boat as it gains the strand, 
I shall pass from sight with the boatman pale, 

To the better shore of the spirit land ; 
I shall know the loved who have gone before, 

And joyfully sweet will the meeting be, 
When over the river, the peaceful river, 

The angel of death shall carry me." 



36 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE TESTIMONY OF SAINTS. 

" "When born, I died ; and when I die I shall be born — born out of this death-land of 
darkness into the realm of real life." Pilgrim. 

" The dusty house, wherein is shrined 
The soul, is but the counterfeit 
Of that which shall, be more refined 
And exquisite. 

The light to whieh our night belongs 

Unfolds a day more broad and clear ; 
Music but intimates the songs 

We do not hear. 

When death shall come, and disallow 
These rough and ugly masks we wear, 

I think that we shall be as now, 

Only more fair." Alice Caret. 

As the physical birth of the infant is death to the placenta- 
envelope, so birth into spirit-life involves the death and dis- 
integration of the physical casket. And while this latter 
process is as natural as beautiful, it implies no disorganization 
of the spiritual bod} T — no cessation of conscious existence. 

Duality of being extends to human consciousness. The 
inner consciousness — related to the Infinite Consciousness 
of the universe, God — is never for a moment suspended. 
And just prior to, and during the change called dying, it 
often flames up the brightest. 

" If I had strength enough to hold a pen," said the eminent 
William Hunter, " I would write how easy and delightful it 
is to die." 

The distinguished essayist, Montaigne, describing an acci- 
dent that left him so senseless that he was taken up for dead, 
said on being restored, " Methought my life only hung upon 



THE TESTIMONY OF SAINTS. 37 

my lips, and I shut my eyes to help thrust it out and go. I 
was exquisitely happy." 

The editor of the English Quarterly Review records of a 
friend who had been "rescued from drowning, that he had 
not experienced the slightest feeling of suffocation. The 
stream was transparent, the day brilliant, and he could see 
the sun shining through the water ; while a quiet conscious- . 
ness crept over him that his eyes were about to be closed 
upon it for ever. Yet he neither feared his fate nor wished to 
avert it. A pleasant sensation, which soothed and gratified 
him, made a luxurious bed of a watery grave." 

That able jurist, the late Judge Edmonds of New York, 
related to me the following of his Quaker friend, Isaac T. 
Hopper : " I was with him a good deal before he died. One 
day I left his residence about 4 o'clock ; he was exceedingly 
feeble, but I thought he might survive several days, perhaps 
weeks. It was our regular seance evening, and at 8 o'clock 
we met to hold a circle. My daughter's hand was soon influ- 
enced, writing this: ^1 am in the spirit-world. I. T. H.' " 

" Who is that?" inquired a gentleman present. 

" It is the initials," replied the judge, " of Isaac T. Hop- . 
per ; but it cannot be possible, as I left his house a few hours 
since, thinking he might survive several days or weeks." 

The judge, throwing on his cloak, hastened to his Quaker 
friend's residence, when there lay the corpse, and the friends 
standing by weeping. Returning and re-forming the circle, 
the same hand was controlled to write : 

11 1 am in the spirit world ; and I now understand what the apostle meant when he \ 
said we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of 
an eye. I have not slept — i" have not been unconscious for a moment ; but I have 
been changed — changing my mortal for my spiritual body — earth for heaven — I 
am happy beyond expression." 

Sweetly sings the poet : 

" I rose like a mist from the mountain, 
When clay walks abroad on the hills ; 
I rose like a spray from the fountain, 
From life and its wearying ills. 



66 IMMORTALITY. , . 

" I have bathed in the heavenly river, 
I have chanted the seraphic song ; 
And I walk abroad in my brightness, 
Amid the celestial throng." 

In natural death, the process is gradual. The extremities 
first grow chilly ; then the feet become cold; and then the 
hands and arms, to the shoulders. The pulse continues to 
beat more feeble — the blood purples under the nails — the 
eye becomes dim, and the breathing more difficult, while a 
silvery aural emanation, rising mist-like from, gathers gently 
around and over the tremulous body. Spirit friends have 
already come to attend this higher birth. Often they bring 
garments white and glistening. The atmosphere is filled with 
electric particles bright and silvery. The moment of transi- 
tion approaches. The stillness is holy and heavenly. Only 
friends, calm and loving, should be present. And now — 
now a slight tremor, and that ethereal life-thread, the silver 
cord, is severed, and the spiritual body is released from the 
physical tenement; something as the full-blown rose is un- 
rolled out from the rose-bud and plucked from the parent stem. 

When departing. Herbert, the poet, was asked in his seem- 
ing death-struggles, " Are you. suffering ? " and the response, 
almost with the last breath, was, " It is delightful ; oh, so 
delightful!" 

The English Keats, inquired of, a -little before he crossed 
the crystal river, how he felt, replied in a feeble voice, " Bet- 
ter, my friend. I feel as though daisies were growing all 
over me." 

The German Schiller, when passing to the better land, was 
asked concerning his feelings. "Calmer and calmer" was the 
prompt reply. 

When the soul of that poet-preacher, Rev. Charles Sincom, 
was departing, he looked up and said, " There is nothing but 
peace, sweetest peace" 

The Rev. J. W. Bailey, a Universalist minister whom I 
knew long and well, and knew to esteem and love, passed 
on several years since to the higher heavenly world. The 



THE TESTIMONY OF SAINTS. 39 

day before he passed he began to sing, and would sing for 
hours. Mrs. Bailey asked him, " Does it not tire you to sing 
so much?" " Oh, yes," said he; "but I'm so happy — 
happy, I can't help it." He then turned his eyes to his 
daughter Emma, and said, " Do not weep for your father, 
dear child, for he is going so happy — going home." One 
by one we pass away; pass to meet in the Father's mansion. 

She says he then turned his eyes upward, and oh, how 
glorious they looked ! They seemed illumined with heavenly 
light; but he stopped breathing. u I laid my hand upon his 
shoulder. He opened his eyes, and smiling upon me said, 
4 Why, I thought I had gone to the spirit world. I have seen 
over the river, and I can now see on both sides. It is beauti- 
ful on this side ; but oh, glorious, glorious on the other ! 
Why, I see Ellen ! I see so many friends there, over the 
river, and they beckon, beckon to me. I see more, vastly 
more on that side than I do on this.' " Mrs. Bailey adds : 
" He then pressed my hand, said ' Do not grieve,' smiled, 
waved his hand, and passed on." 

When a Progressive Friend of Philadelphia visited a 
Quaker family in Ohio a few years since, consisting of a 
father and lovely daughter, the latter pale and dying, he 
inquired of her if she knew her situation. " I know that my 
Redeemer liveth," said she, in a voice of subdued and heav- 
enly sweetness. A half hour passed, and she spoke, in the 
same melodious tone, " Father, I am cold." And the vener- 
able man reclined by his dying child, endeavoring to restore 
warmth to her stiffening limbs ; and she twined her emaciated 
arms around his neck, and murmured in a subdued voice, 
"Dear father, dear father." "My child," said the sorrowing 
man, " doth the flood seem deep to thee ? " "Nay, father, 
for my soul is strong." " Seest thou the thither shore?" 
" I see it, father ; and its banks are green with immortal ver- 
dure." " Hearest thou the voices of its inhabitants ? " "I 
hear them, father ; as the voices of angels falling from afar in 
the still and solemn night-time ; and they call me. Her 
voice, too, father ; oh, I heard it then ! " " Doth she speak 



40 IMMORTALITY. 

to thee ? " " She speaketh in tones most heavenly." " Doth 
she smile ? " " An angel smile, a calm and holy smile. But 
I am cold, cold, cold ! Father, there's a mist in the room. 
You'll be lonely, lonely. Is this death, father?" "It is 
death, Mary." " Thank God ! " And as these sweet words 
died away upon her lips, her tranquil spirit went to revel in 
the celestial splendors of Heaven. 

While holding the pastoral charge of a church in the city 
of Oswego, N. Y., I was a frequent visitor at the hospitable 
home of the Rev. S. J. May, Syracuse, N. Y. Royal-souled 
and spiritually-minded by nature, he was gentle and loving 
as a child. His life-path was often illumined by premonitions 
and visions. Recalling the dreamy yet really spiritual im- 
pressions of the past, relative to the early departure of his 
little brother with whom he had clasped hands, eaten, drank, 
and slept so sweetly, he says : 

" There lay my beloved Edward dead, his eyes shut, his body cold, giving no replies 
to the tender things that were said to him, taking no notice of all that was being done 
to him or about him. I gave myself up to a passion of grief, not knowing the mean- 
ing of what I saw, but feeling that some awful change had come over him. When 
the room was darkened, and my father and mother were about to withdraw, I begged 
them to let me lie down with Edward. My importunity was so passionate that my 
parents were almost afraid, and quite too tender, to withstand it ; so I was covered 
with a shawl, and laid by my dead brother. When left alone with him, I well remem- 
ber how I kissed his cold cheeks and lips, pulled open his eyelids, begged him to 
speak to me, and finally cried myself to sleep. 

" Most vivid is my recollection of the funeral, of the solemn procession to the burial- 
ground, and of the weeping of friends and relatives. -When I saw them take the 
coffin from the carriage, and carry it off towards the tomb, I insisted upon seeing what 
they were going to do with Edward. So my uncle, Samuel May, took me in his arms, 
descended with me into the family vault, and showed me where they had put away my 
brother. Then he pointed out the little coffins in which were the remains of several of 
my brothers and sisters, who had lived and died before I was born, and the coffin in 
which my grandfather was laid eight years before. 

" My kind uncle opened one of the coffins, and let me see how decayed the body had 
become, and told me that Edward's body would decay in like manner, and become like 
the dust of the earth ; but while revealing to me these sad facts, he assured me most 
tenderly that all these departed ones were still living; that my dear brother's spirit 
was not in the coffin, but was clothed with another and more spiritual body, and living 
in heaven with God and the beautiful angels. I went home in a sort of maze, crying, 
and asking questions which human wisdom could not answer. 

" I remember that my only brothen Charles, then a lad of fourteen or fifteen years of 
age, tenderly took me to his room, lay down with me on his bed, and tried to comfort 
me and himself by telling me all that he imagined to be true about heaven, God, 



THE TESTIMONY OF SAINTS. 41 

angels, and loving spirits, assuring- me again, as others had done, that Edward had gone 
to live in that blessed place, in that happy and glorious company. 

" When night came I was put to bed, in the bed where I had so often slept with Ed- 
ward. Sleep soon came to relieve my young spirit, wearied with grief and strange 
excitement, and in my dreams all that had been told me proved true. The ceiling of 
the room seemed to open, a glorious light burst in, and from the midst of it came down 
my lost brother, attended by a troop of child-angels. They left him, and he lay down 
beside me, as he used to do. He told me what a beautiful place heaven was, and how 
all the angels loved one another. There he lay till morning, when the ceiling above 
opened again, and the troop of angels came to bear him back to heaven. He kissed 
me, sent messages of love to father and mother, brother and sisters, and gladly re- 
joined the celestial company. 

" So soon as I awoke and was dressed, I hurried down to tell the family what I had 
seen, and to give them the kisses and messages that dear Edward had sent them. . The 
remarkable thing about this dream was, that it was many times repeated, that night 
after night I enjoyed the presence of my brother, that morning after morning I went 
down to the family with renewed assurances of love from the one who was gone. 

" By degrees my grief abated; the loss of my brother was in some measure supplied 
by other playmates ; new things attracted my attention and occupied my thoughts. 
But I have never forgotten my Edward ; the events of his death and burial, and the 
heavenly vision, are all still vivid in my memory ; and I believe the experience had 
great influence in awaking and fixing in my mind the full faith I have in the continu- 
ance of life after death, — a faith so strong that I do not believe more fully in the life 
that now is than in that which is to come." 

In the early years of my ministry, I often met the Rev. 
D. K. Lee, originally of Kelloggsville, N. Y. Though naturally 
timid and quiet in spirit, he was earnest in preaching, and one 
of the excellent men of earth. These lines from his pen 
reveal his spirit : 

" Let me go, let me go ! for the mists of the night 

From the wings of the morning are sweeping, 
And the deserts are budding, and harvests are white, 

It is time that I now should be reaping • 
I have slumbered full long on my sickle, I fear, 

Since around me the reapers were waking — 
In the gleamings of twilight the shades disappear — 

Let me go, for the morning is breaking ! " 

In the later years of his well-spent life he enjoyed the rich 
blessings of spirit communion. When dying, he exclaimed : 
"The children are coming — the beautiful children." The 
Rev, Mr. Bartholomew, in a very appropriate funeral discourse, 
referred to the opening of his spiritual sight in these words : 

" I do not wonder that in his last moments a vision of children's faces was opened 
to his soul ; I do not wonder that he should say, ' The children, the beautiful children. 



42 IMMORTALITY. 

don't you see tliem f ' God sends Ms angels and ministering spirits to us in our trying 
hours, to bring us strength and comfort, and to fill us with their heavenly peace. He 
sends us such angels as the heart craves most to see. And I do not wonder that angel- 
children crowded around his dying-bed. There were the children that had gone up 
from this congregation to join the glorified in heaven ; the children in whom he took 
such interest in life, whose hearts he moulded, and on whose minds he poured the 
light of truth ; the children in whose plays and pastimes he had so often taken part : 
they came to him in his dying-hour to welcome him to their home above." 

Many of the greatest and most gifted souls of earth were 
endowed with spiritual gifts. Socrates, Plato, Proclus, John 
the Apostle, Cicero, Plutarch, Tertullian, Bacon, Louis XVI., 
Baxter, Cowper, Glanville, Swedenborg, Joan of Arc, Ann 
Lee, George Fox, Johnson, Lessing, Goethe, Kerner, Wesley, — 
these, and others, had visions of Heaven, visions of angels, 
visions of immortality ! 

How sweet this old Iryrnn : 

" We're going home ! we've had visions bright 
Of that holy land, the world of light* 
When the long dark night of time is past, 
And the morn of eternity dawns at last ; 
Where the weaiy soul no more shall roam, 
But dwell in a happy, peaceful home ; 
Where the brow with sparkling gems is crowned, 
And the waves of bliss are flowing around ; 
Oh, that beautiful home ! that beautiful world ! " 

Spiritualism is not only a science and a philosophy, but in 
its highest definition it is a religion — a rational religion, har- 
monizing perfectly with the sublime teachings of the New 
Testament. Speaking of the noble and philanthropic James 
Arnold Whipple, the Rev. Aclin Ballou says : 

" In religon he was a liberalist, verging for years on scepticism, but afterwards con- 
firmed by Spiritualism into the strongest assurance of man's future immortal existence. 
Even after embracing Spiritualism, he doubted the uses of prayer and personal exer- 
cises of pietistic devotion. But under the chastening discipline of sickness, he was 
fully drawn away from that externalism of feeling into the sphere of child-like docility, 
conti'ition, tender-hearted and confiding prayerfulness. It was a blessed unfoldment 
to him, his companion and friends. Meantime his spiritual vision was opened to be- 
hold bright, cheering, consoling spirits from the immortal world, who gathered, around 
his dying-bed, and gave him a sweet welcome to the deathless mansions." 

" I see things unutterable," said another dying servant of 
God. Elizabeth Drinker, a Quakeress, when dying, seemed 



THE TESTIMONY OF SAINTS. 43 

much supported above the last conflict, and with an animated 
countenance said, " Oh, the beauty ! the excellent beauty ! 
What a beautiful view I have of the hosts of heaven ! " 

Near Whitby, in Yorkshire, there lived a very conscientious 
man, named Sinclair. He had a family of children, and it 
was his great concern, and unceasing prayer, that they might 
be saved. Christopher, his son, when but twelve years old, 
felt a strong inclination for a seafaring life. Accordingly, he 
served an apprenticeship under the master of a ship; but 
soon afterwards had some of his ribs dislocated, a misfortune 
from which he never recovered. 

His father told him that there was no expectation of his 
being restored, yet they wished to ease him of his pain. 
" Pain ! " said this moral hero, " I have no pain ; I am all in 
a flame of love." 

Early in the morning of the day on which he died, he said 
to his father, " This has been the happiest night I have ever 
had ; and now the blessed morning has come in which I shall 
go to Jesus." When his speech failed he smiled, and looked 
up to heaven. He then took hold of his father's hand, looked 
upwards, and seemed as though he would point to some object. 
He tried to speak, but could only say, " Oh, see ! see ! " Sud- 
denly his face shone as if a divine ray of heavenly light rested 
upon him. This continued for more than five minutes, after 
which he exclaimed, " I have seen Jesus and the angels." 

His uncle, who had been sent for, came in at the time, and 
to him the dying young saint said, " I have seen heaven — 
the angels — I can speak no more." The uncle felt that there 
was a presence in that chamber beyond mortal creatures. He 
knelt down, and whilst praying that a convoy of angels might 
carry the disembodied spirit to Paradise, the happy soul 
passed through death triumphant home. For some days after- 
wards his friends talked to each other of the sudden appear- 
ance of the heavenly beam of light which they recognized 
just before the young man died, and of the awe, yet peaceful 
feeling, they had of a gracious spiritual presence. 

The cold formalisms of theologians may, in a measure, do 



44 IMMORTALITY. 

to live by ; but they will not stand the trying test of the 
dying-hour. Then, if never before, is the Spiritualism of the 
ages — the Spiritualism of the New Testament — the Spirit- 
ualism of prayer — the Spiritualism of hope and trust and 
knowledge, truly precious. Only a few weeks since, while 
standing by the bedside of a dying mother, who had long 
been blessed with the gift of clairvoyance, she exclaimed : 
"There — that band of angels are coming again; one brings 
a white robe. Do you not hear the song they sing ? Oh, why 
do you cry so ? why keep me from my dear ones ? How light 
the room is ! Do not say, ' Good night,' but wait a little, and 
we'll say, 4 Good morning.'' " 

When Mrs. Pinkerton, a medium and spiritualist lecturer, 
was passing down into death's rolling waves, she exclaimed, 
" This is a glorious doctrine to die by, friends ; continue in the 
good work — it will be a great thing if you can only free a 
few from the shackles of theological dogmas." She bade the 
unstable to stand fast, and exclaimed, in transports of rapture 
and delight, " This is the best day of my life ; I hear the 
angels singing; I am happy, happy, happy! " To the skeptics 
present she said: "Doubt no more — I know there is a blessed, 
glorious, eternal life." And while a few friends, by her re- 
quest, sang, 

" Joyfully, joyfully, onward I move, 
Bound for the laud of bright spirits above," 

she clapped her hands, exclaiming, " Oh, hinder me not, for I 
want to go home. I'm going. I am almost over the river. 
The voyage is pleasant." 

Angels only know how deeply I am interested in the fam- 
ily history of Louis XVI., the kind-hearted Bourbon king. 
Beauchesne of Paris, writing of the unfortunate Louis' son, 
the idolized prince, says : 

" When the Dauphin, hardly eleven years of age, was lying sick upon his bed of 
rags, he exclaimed, ' I hear music ! music' 

" Gomin, surprised, asked him, ' Where do you hear the music ?' 'From on high.' 
' How long since ? ' ' Since you have been on your knees. Don't you hear it ? Listen ! 
listen ! ' And the child raised his failing arm, and opened his lai'ge e^ves, lighted up 
with ecstasy. His poor guardian, not wishing to destroy this sweet and heavenly illu- 



THE TESTIMONY OF SAINTS. 45 

sion set himself to listen also, with the pious desire of hearing what could not be 
heard. 

" After some moments of attention, the child started again, his eyes glistened, and 
he exclaimed in an inexpressible transport, ' In the midst of all the voices I heard my 
mother's ! ' 

" This word seemed, as it fell from the orphan's lips, to remove all his pain. His 
contracted brows expanded, and his countenance brightened up with that ray of serenity 
which gives assurance of deliverance or victory. With his eyes fixed upon a vision, 
his ear listening to the distant music of one of those concerts that human ear has 
never heard, there appeared to spring forth in his child's soul another existence. 

" An instant afterwards the brilliancy of his eye became extinguished, he crossed 
his arms upon his breast, and an expression of sinking showed itself upon his face. 

" Gomin observed him closely, and followed with an anxious eye every movement. 
His breathing was no longer painful ; his eye alone seemed slowly to wander, looking 
from time to time towards the window. . . . Gomin asked him what it was he was 
looking at in that direction. The child looked at his guardian a moment, and although 
the question was repeated, he seemed not to understand it, and did not answer. 

" Lasne came up from below to relieve Gomin; the latter went out, his heart op- 
pressed, but not more anxious than on the evening before, for he did not expect an im- 
mediate termination. Lasne took his seat near the bed ; the prince regarded him for a 
long time with a fixed and dreamy look. When he made a slight movement, Lasne 
asked him how he was, and if he wanted anything. The child said, ' Ho you think 
that my sister has heard the music ? How happy it would have made her ? ' Lasne 
was unable to answer. The eager and penetrating look, full of anguish, of the dying 
child darted towards the window. An exclamation of happiness escaped his lips ; then, 
looking towards his guardian, he said, ' I have one thing to tell you.' . . . Lasne ap- 
proached and took his hand; the little head of the prisoner fell upon his guardian's 
breast, who listened to him, but in vain. His last words had been spoken. God had 
spared the young martyr the agony of the dying rattle ; God had kept for himself the 
last thought of the child. Lasne put his hand upon the heart of the child : the pure 
heart of Louis XVII. had ceased to beat. It was half past two o'clock in the 
afternoon." 

When Mozart had given the finishing touches to his won- 
derful Requiem, his last and sweetest composition, he fell 
into a quiet and composed slumber. On awakening, he said 
to his daughter, " Come hither, my Emilie ; my task is done ; 
the Requiem is done — my Requiem is finished." " Oh, no," 
said the gentle girl, the tears filling her eyes; "you will be 
better now ; let me go and bring you something refreshing." 
" Do not deceive yourself, my love," he replied, " I am beyond 
human aid ; I am dying, and I look to Heaven's mercy only for 
aid. You spoke of refreshment — take these last notes of mine, 
sit down by my piano here, sing them with the hymn of your 
sainted mother ; let me once more hear those tones which 
have so long been my solace and delight." His daughter 



46 . IMMORTALITY. 

complied, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, sang the 
following : 

" Spirit, thy labor is o'er, 

Thy earthly probation is run ; 
Thy steps are now bound for the unknown shore, 
And the race of immortals begun. 

Spirit, look not on the strife, 

Or the pleasures of earth with regret ; 
Pause not on the threshold of limitless life 

To mourn for the day that is set. 

Spirit, no fetters can bind, 

JSTo wicked have power to molest ; 
There the weary like thee, the wretched, shall find 

A haven, a mansion of rest. 

Spirit, how bright is the road 

For which thou art now on the wing ! 
Thy home — it will be with the angels of God, 

Their loud Alleluias to sing." 

As she concluded, she dwelt for a moment on the low 
melancholy notes of the piece, and then turned from the in- 
strument to meet the approving smile of her father. It was 
the still, passionless smile which the rapt and departed spirit 
left upon the features. 

Reaching Paris by way of Egypt and Italy, from the East, 
on my way around the world, I met that distinguished author, 
statesman, and spiritualist, Victor Hugo, in Mrs. Hollis-Bil- 
lings' seance-rooms. He came out, weeping tears of gladness; 
for a loved son had held converse with a loving father. Like 
Camille Flammarion, the French astronomer, like J. H. Fichte, 
the great German philosopher, Victor Hugo is a brave, out- 
spoken spiritualist; and this accounts for his thrilling sen- 
tences and Heaven-inspired ideas relating to law and liberty, 
to death and the immortal life. Standing over the corpse of 
one he loves, he says : 

" I bless him in the great hereafter. In the name of the sorrows whereon he gently 
beamed, and of the shadows he smiled into sunshine ; in the name of terrestrial things 
he once hoped for, and of celestial things which he now enjoys ; in the name of all he 
loved, I bless him. I bless him in his youth, in his beauty, in his innocence, in his life, 
and in his death. I bless him in his white, sepulchral robes ; in his home which he 
has left ; in his coffin which his friends filled with flowers, and which God filled with 
stars." 



THE TESTIMONY OF SAINTS. 47 

" The dead arc invisible, but they are not absent. Let us be just to death. Let us 
not be ungrateful to death. It is not, as has been said, a ruin and a snare. It is an 
error to think that here in the darkness of the open grave all is lost to us. There 
everything is found again. The grave is a place of restitution ; there the soul resumes 
the infinite, there it recovers its plenitude. There it re-enters on the possession of all 
its mysterious nature ; it is set free from the body, from want, from its burden, from 
fatality. Death is the greatest of liberties ; it is also the furthest progress. Death 
is a higher step for all who have lived upon its height. Dazzling and holy every 
one receives his increase, everything is transfigured in the light and by the light. 
He who has been no more than virtuous on earth becomes beauteous ; he who has 
only been beauteous becomes sublime ; and he who has only been sublime becomes 
good. Progress is for all ! progress is eternal ! " 

In speaking at a Parisian party of litterateurs upon the subject 
of immortality, his face brightening up into a sun of trans- 
figured beauty, he said : 

"There are no occult forces; there are only luminous forces. Occult force is 
chaos, the luminous force is God. Man is an infinitely little copy of God ; this is glory 
enough for man. I am a man, an invisible atom,- a drop in the ocean, a grain of sand 
on the shore. Little as I am, I feel the God in me, because I can also bring form out 
of my chaos. I make books, which are creations. I feel in myself the future life. I 
am like a forest which has been more than once cut down. The new shoots are 
stronger and livelier than ever. I am rising, I know, toward the sky. The sunshine 
is on my head. The earth gives me its generous sap, but heaven lights me with the 
reflection of unknown worlds. You say the soul is nothing but the resultant of bodily 
powers. Why then is my soul the more luminous when my bodily powers begin to 
fail ? Winter is on my head, and eternal spring is in my heart. There I breathe at 
this hour the fragrance of the lilacs, the violets, and the roses, as at twenty years. 
The nearer I approach the end, the plainer I hear around me the immortal symphonies 
of the worlds which invite me. It is marvelous, yet simple. It is a fairy tale, and it is 
history. For half a century I have been writing my thoughts in prose and verse ; his- 
tory, philosophy, drama, romance, tradition, satire, ode, and song — I have tried all. 
But I feel I have not said the thousandth part of what is in me. When I go down to 
the grave I can say, like so many others, ' I have finished my day's work,' but I cannot 
say, ' I have finished my life.' My day's work will begin again the next morning. 
The tomb is not a blind alley ; it is a thoroughfare. It closes on the twilight to open 
with the dawn — the dawn of an immortal morning ! " 



48 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE ORIGIN, GROWTH, AND PERFECTION OF THE SPIRITUAL 

BODY. 

" There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body." — Paul. 

" Nor fear the grave, that door of heaven on earth ; 
All changed and beautiful ye shall come forth, 
As from the cold dark cloud the winter showers 
Go underground to dress, and come forth flowers." 

Gekald Massey. 

Something what the bird is to the shell — what the juicy 
pulp is to the orange, the spiritual body is to the organic 
man. The rind aptly symbolizes the outer physical body, 
and the orange seed the soul-germ. 

In this stage of existence man is triune — soul, spiritual 
body, earthly body. In the future intermediate state of being 
he will be dual — soul and spiritual body ; the former a poten- 
tialized portion of the Over-soul, God. 

The query may here arise, whether, when the celestial 
degree or state of angelhood is resumed, man will not once 
more enjoy the threefold state by the possession of a body- 
form derived from the more perfected or etherealized com- 
bination of chemical substance through a process of material- 
ization ? Prophecy, resurrection doctrines, and materializing 
phenomena foreshadow such a conclusion. Moreover, if this 
outer zone of material substance shall be added to the aromal 
body of the soul, it will be practically immortal and free from 
the disorders to which our present mortal bodies are subject. 

The spiritual bod}^ is not a newly organized and ethereal- 
ized body that we are to have in the morning of the resurrec- 
tion, for we have it now. It is within us, and in a secondary 
sense is the life of the physical body. The two bodies in 
point of time are co-existent. And the soul, allied to, and 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 49 

rooted in God, has been manufacturing and moulding this 
spiritual body from the moment of conception. 

Interpenetrating and infilling the atmosphere that surrounds 
our earth there is a pulsating spiritual atmosphere. Every 
element, monad, molecule — dual doubtless in construction 
— is constituted of physical matter and spiritual substance ; 
and the spiritual substances in the air we breathe, the food 
we eat, and the auras we appropriate, go to make and support 
our spiritual bodies. 

Physical matter is not transmitted, nor can it become, by 
any \ law of progress, essential soul — that is, pure Intelli- 
gence ! We only know of soul by its manifestations. We 
are finite beings, and accordingly our thoughts and percep- 
tions have their limitations and impossibilities. God will be 
the unsolved problem of eternity. It is as absolutely impos- 
sible for the finite to fathom the Infinite as for two parallel 
lines to meet. 

The spiritual body, even while enshrined in the earthly, 
requires spiritual sustenance. This it derives, as we have 
before intimated, from the etherealized essences of grains, 
fruits, and from spirit-auras ; and digesting, assimilates them ; 
— ■ while the soul requires and finds its sustenance in the recep- 
tion and appropriation of such divine principles as affection, 
goodness, truth, and wisdom. To properly feed a spiritually- 
minded man in this world is to educate and instruct him in 
spiritual things. And this is especially true of those who 
inhabit the heavenly life. " Lord," exclaimed the disciples, 
" evermore give us this bread." On the tomb of a Pharaoh 
at Thebes, in letters exquisitely graved three thousand years 
ago, perhaps, are these words : "I lived in truth, and fed my 
soul with justice and wisdom. What I did for men I did in 
peace, and how I loved God, God and my heart well know." 

If I had been asked, while feeling my way by the dim 
twilight of theological dogmas, to define the spiritual body, I 
should probably have said : "The spiritual body, — why, it is 
a thin, aerial, immaterial sort of a shapeless essence, that in 
the dying-hour floats away into space, awaiting the sounding 
4 



50 IMMORTALITY. 

of the trumpet and the resurrection of the dead ! " But the 
heavens, opened as they are in this nineteenth century, the 
descending angels have taught us that the spiritual body is a 
real body ; that the spiritual man is the real man with the 
spiritual form and senses etherealized and more thoroughly 
perfected. The spiritual body is particled, and accordingly 
subject to waste and supply. Aflame with life and action, it 
continually casts off a coarser and takes to itself and appro- 
priates that which is more ethereal and beautiful. 

The clairvoyant and clairaudient have the physical and 
spiritual senses both open at the same time, enabling them to 
commune with men and spirits, and to hear the music of earth 
and the music of the angels. The sages of India, the Magi 
of the East, the prophets of Israel, the apostles of Syria, 
Swedenborg, Wesley, Ann Lee, and others were thus condi- 
tioned in the past; and so are the genuine mediums of the 
present — enabling them to consciously and visibly converse 
with the inhabitants of the spirit- world. 

Though the spiritual body is encased in the physical, the 
latter does not necessarily reflect the perfect image of the 
spiritual man. Other things being equal, however, this, is 
largely true. Still, the influences of hereditary descent and 
the psychological imprint of the parents often render the 
external unlike the face and form of the indwelling spirit. 
Physical deformities do not pertain to the spirit. The out- 
wardly ugly are often beautiful within — and beautiful, because 
their spiritual natures have subsisted upon purity, love, and 
truth. Many who are crooked and deformed in limb, and who 
have uncomely bodies, have interior spiritual bodies of exqui- 
site beauty and manliness. Good deeds brighten and beautify. 
To distribute and confer blessings upon others gives sweet- 
ness and serenity to the spiritual features. The truly good, 
however old and wrinkled, are spiritually beautiful. " In the 
other life," says the gifted Edmund H. Sears, "appears the 
wonderful paradox that the oldest people are the youngest. 
To grow in age is to come into everlasting youth. To become 
old in years is to put on the freshness of perpetual prime. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 01 

We drop from us the debris of the past ; we breathe the ether 
of immortality, and our cheeks mantle with eternal bloom." 

In Theodore Parker's great sermon entitled " Old Age," he 
makes use of this symbol from natural life : " The stick on his- 
andirons snaps asunder, and falls outward. Two faintly- 
smoking brands stand there. Grandfather lays them together 
and they flame up ; the two smokes are united in one flame.. 
' Even so let it be in heaven.' " 

In the gardens and paradises of heaven, living souls meet 
and mingle as do the pearling dewdrops of morning. 

While a physical atmosphere envelops our earth, the spirit- 
ual atmosphere, like a measureless ocean of light, encircles and 
bathes in peerless splendor these worlds and astral systems that 
stud the fields of Infinity. Passing through the vine-encircled 
door of death into the world of spirits, to consciously inhale 
this atmosphere, everything seems so real, so substantial,, so 
spiritually natural, that many cannot at first understand that 
their bodies are dead — that they have really been translated 
from the rudimental to the next and higher stage of exist- 
ence. They think they are half a-dreaming. To be sure, 
they cognize the fact that they live — that their spiritual 
bodies are perfect in structure and function — that their 
hearts throb, their lungs expand, their ears hear, their lips 
speak, and their eyes behold the friends that had previously 
crossed the crystal river ; and still, they wonder ! 

It is only through the prophets of old and the intermedia- 
ries of the present that we know the nature of the spiritual 
body ; know the occupations of spirit-life, and the social 
activities that obtain in " that city that hath foundations, 
whose builder and maker is God." Scientific men are 
cautiously approaching this realm of the spiritual. Accord- 
ingly, Professor Winchell, of the Michigan University, says : 

" The unseen world is destined to become like a newly-discovered continent. We 
shall visit it; we shall hold communion with it; we shall wonder how so many thou- 
sand years could have passed without our being introduced to it. We shall learn of 
other modes of existence — intermediate, perhaps, between body and spirit — having 
the forms and limitations in space peculiar to matter, with the penetrability and invisi- 
bility of spirit. And who can say that we may not yet obtain such knowledge of the 



52 IMMORTALITY. 

modes of existence of other bodies as to discover the means of rendering them visible 
to our bodily eyes, as we now hold conversation with a friend upon the shores of the 
Pacific, or in the heart of Europe, or fly with the superhuman velocity of the wind 
from the Atlantic to the Mississippi valley ? Then may we not at last gaze upon the 
spiritual bodies in which our departed friends reside, and discover the means of listen- 
ing to then' spirit voices, and join hands consciously with the heavenly host ? " 

All this is accomplished. The immortal, vestured in tempo- 
rary clothing, walk in our midst. Like Jesus, who appeared 
in the "upper room, the door being shut," they " vanish" 
from sight. Only those whose eyes are " holden " fail to see 
them. They come to demonstrate a future existence ; to 
remap and revise the geography of other lands than ours ; 
and to reveal the glories of those heavenly spheres. 

" Where the faded flower shall freshen, 

Freshen never more to fade ; 
Where the shaded sky shall brighten, 

Brighten never more to shade ; 
Where the sun-blaze never scorches, 

Where the star-beams cease to chill, 
Where no tempest stirs the echoes 

Of the wood or wave or hill': 
Where the morn shall wake in gladness, 

And the moon the joy prolong; 
Where the daylight dies in fragrance, 

Mid the burst of holy song ; 
Where the bond is never severed, 

Partings, claspings, sobs, and moans, 
Midnight waking, twilight weeping, 

Heavy noontide — all are done. 
Where dear friends in kingly glory, 

Such as earth has never known, 
Shall each take the righteous scepter, 

Claim and wear the heavenly crown." 



IS IT THE SOUL OR THE BODY THAT SINS? 53 



CHAPTER VII. 

IS IT THE SOUL OR THE BODY THAT SINS? 

" I know not what trials thy poor heart hath had, 
I only know mine have driven me mad ! 
The world may have touched thee, and left its foul taint, 
For none can escape it, nor sinner nor saint. 

I know what this life is — Ah ! God help us all, 
. For the bravest and best in the battle may fall ; 
I'll not judge thee rashly — no, Heaven forefend, 
'Tis a cold word to utter, — but, ' I'm ever thy friend ! ' " 

H. Clay Preuss. 

" For I came not to condemn the world, but to save the world." Jesus. 

Just as the body is the subject of health and disease, just 
as there is order and disorder in its functional relations, so is 
there harmony and inharmony, good and evil, in the moral 
universe. Evil is not " undeveloped good," but directly the 
opposite of good. And man as a moral actor is therefore the 
subject of rewards and disciplinary punishments. 

Just as character is more than reputation, being is more than 
doing ; so each man's justification or condemnation comes 
from what he absolutely is, in and of himself. The judg- 
ment-seat is within, and conscience, in connection with the 
moral faculties, there sits enthroned as judge. The seeming 
in society is often an illusion. And yet, external respecta- 
bility, like merchandise, has its market-price. The hells are 
crowded with proud and respectable hypocrites of earth. 
Jesus, eating with publicans and sinners, " made himself," 
said an apostle, "of no reputation;" but his character, oh, 
how divine ! 

Doing may be imitated, being cannot. The virtues may 
be copied ; but virtue, as an original principle or motive, is a 



54 IMMORTALITY. 

part of the divine selfhood. It was not " virtue " that Jesus 
" felt go out of him," but nervo-magnetism. Works of right- 
eousness borrowed — works undertaken as a speculation to 
secure Heaven, are valueless, because selfish. The best acts 
are praiseworthy only so far as they are the exponents of the 
moral life, and have in view the good of humanity. 

Psychology and phrenology, now received into the pan- 
theon of the sciences, prove man to be a moral being, having 
moral brain-faculties. And moral being implies moral law, 
and moral law implies not only conscience and freedom, but 
moral government and compensation. 

Conscience, in connection with moral judgment, ever 
prompts to the right ; but the perceptive and reflecting 
organs, coupled with moral consciousness, must ever deter- 
mine what that right is. This applies to every scale of life. 
" Green apples are good," says a prominent Spiritualist writer, 
— "good in their place, as the ripened ones of October." 
True ; but why compare green apples to states of evil ? 
Unripe fruit represents a stage of growth in accordance with 
the divine order, as childhood is according to divine order ; 
but hate, malice, falsity, and unchastity are inversions of the 
divine order, and hence bear no correspondence to unripe 
fruit. And further, the one who compares green apples, 
which are utterly destitute of intelligence and moral percep- 
tion, with the willful perversions of human nature, exhibits 
a process of reasoning which deserves the appellation — 
unparalleled sophistry ! No moral quality inheres in apples. 
They are neither "good" nor evil, because moral qualities 
pertain to moral beings — not unconscious fruit, or blind 
forces. 

A machine may be constructed with such precision that 
the action of each screw and wheel is controlled and deter- 
mined with mathematical exactness. But it is a machine, 
nevertheless, and incapable of love or hate, good or evil. If 
man, instead of being a conscious spirit, were a mere machine, 
there would be no moral wrong on earth, and there should be 
neither rewards nor punishments. 



IS IT THE SOUL OR THE BODY THAT SINS? 55 

There are pseudo-philosophers who with great confidence 
assure us that there is no moral evil in the universe — only a 
graded or lower degree of good. But is a positive lie a lower 
degree of truth? Malice a lower degree of mercy? and 
burning lust a lower degree of chastity ? To enunciate is to 
reveal the terrible hideousness of such reasoning. Good and 
evil are moral conditions, each real and positive, according as 
it becomes the leading force in purpose or quality of charac- 
ter. And the higher the moral altitude attained, the more 
exquisitely keen are the soul's distinctions between good and 
evil. 

If it is noble to resist temptation, it is infinitely nobler to 
be above temptation. Milton's angels were only lrypothetical 
angels. If real, they could not have been so easily tempted, 
through pride, to fall. Each individual is responsible to the 
extent of his intelligence, mental capacity, and moral knowl- 
edge. 

All moral acts pertain to the mental and spiritual nature, 
and not to the body, except medially. The amputated foot 
does not kick. It is not the fleshly hand that steals. No 
corpse treads on forbidden ground. The hand, the foot, the 
body — these are only the implements for conscious intelli- 
gence to operate through. Without this intelligence and 
moral perception of law, man is little more than a passive 
machine. The body, then, does not sin. Constituted of 
physical elements, it can know nothing of moral or immoral 
acts. And death, which is only the shedding of the outer 
envelope, in no way affects the immortal man. It is not a 
sponge, that cleans the slate in a moment ; not a sieve, that, 
while separating the chaff from the wheat, purifies the soul ; 
not a moral chemist, that so manipulates character as to per- 
fect it in the twinkling of an eye. And yet death, or the 
conditions to which death introduces the individual, offers 
better and higher facilities for perpetual progress. 

Human beings are finite, and accordingly all moral distinc- 
tions are relative. And while motives and circumstances, 
and even the bodily passions, have wide fields of operation, 



56 IMMORTALITY. 

they are to be controlled and rigidly subjected to the reason 
and higher intuitions of the moral nature. This is the 
struggle — the clashing battle-ground of life. God and the 
good angels help the Christ within us to become victor. 

Something as shadows are to pictures, so are imperfections 
to human nature along its different stages of development. 
Evil is incident to moral freedom and moral law. The ap'os- 
tolic assurance that Jesus " was made perfect through suffer- 
ing," has been construed that he was once imperfect. And it 
has often been contended that if Jesus as a Jew had not 
been disobedient, the apostle could not have rationally said 
that he " learned obedience by the things he suffered." Only 
then, that he was, as the Scriptures teach, our "• Elder 
Brother," — a u man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," 
— could he have felt such a deep sympathy for humanity. 

Kossuth spoke all the more eloquently in behalf of liberty 
after having paced the cold floors of an Austrian dungeon. 
Hampden's^ persecutions for freedom fired his soul with a 
deeper love for justice and equality. Gough could never 
have spoken with the burning power and pathos he does had 
he not staggered and suffered under the poisoned draught. 
Pain is a masked angel pointing to the door of obedience. 
And so evil, through sorrow and direst suffering, is overruled 
for good. This is Optimism — that rational Optimism which, 
seeing afar into the future, is calm with faith and holiest trust. 

The noblest and purest souls of earth are ever the most 
charitable. "Neither do I condemn thee," were the tender 
words of Jesus. And again, " I came not to condemn the 
world, but to save the world. *' The good shepherd, leaving 
the ninety and nine, searched for the lost sheep until he had 
found it. The robes of reformers shine the brightest when 
they rustle along the crowded crypts of time. Feet pierced 
with thorns are on the way to see the head crowned with 
roses. Disappointments and trials, rightly considered, and 
patiently endured, become transfigured into higher joys; or, by 
other methods, bloom out into richest blessings. Tears, shed 
over the sufferings of others, crystallize into pearls. Under 



IS IT THE SOUL OR THE BODY THAT SINS ? 57 

the clouds of imperfection, and the cankering corruptions of 
social life, there lie entombed the principles that reflect the 
overshadowing love of the Infinite, — principles that brighten 
up in glad response to that sweet sympathy and love that 
angels ever know. It was not the body, but the soul of Mary 
Magdalena, that Jesus so admired and loved. The peerless 
words of the Apostle John — " God is Love " — will live for- 
ever ! 

Appreciating the moral grandeur of a broad religious opti- 
mism, Alice Carey sung one of the sweetest songs of her soul. 

" I said if I might go back again 

To the very hour and place of my birth, 
Might have my life whatever I chose, 
And live it in any part of the earth ; 

Put perfect sunshine into my sky, 

Banish the shadows of sorrow and doubt ; 
Have all of my happiness multiplied, 

And all of my suffering stricken out ; 

If I could have known in the years now gone 

The best that a mortal comes to know : 
Could have had whatever will make man blest, 

Or whatever he thinks will make him so ; 



Yea ; I said if a miracle such as this 

Could be wrought for me at my bidding, — still 

I would choose to have my past as it is, 
And to let my future come as it will. 

I would not make the path I have trod 
More pleasant, or even more straight or wide ; 

Nor change my course the breadth of a hair 
This way or that to either side. 

My past is mine, and I take it all, — 

Its weakness, its folly if you please ; 
Nay, even my sins, if you come to that, 
» May have been my helps, — not hindrances. 

So let my past stand just as it stands, 

And let me now, as I may, grow old ; 
I am what I am, and my life for me 

Is the best — or, it had not been — I hold." 

The oak remembers not each leaf it bore ; and yet each 
leaf and bough and brawny limb help to make up the towering 



58 IMMORTALITY. 

tree. Many of the acts and minor events of our lives have 
died out, or cease to echo in the memory chambers of our 
souls ; still, their results live in our characters. Let them be 
forgotten ! It is not wise to brood over the broken rounds of 
the ladder our feet just pressed. The summit of the temple 
is to be reached. Direct the eye upward, and press forward 
towards the higher altitudes of heavenly truth and wisdom. 

The toiling seamstress remembers not each stitch she took 
in the garment; and yet, every stitch helped to make up that 
garment ; and so each thought, word, purpose, and deed, help 
to make up the real life of the soul ; and backward-looking 
memory, tracing the effects, may — ay, must construct a 
mirror before which we shall be necessitated to stand, face to 
face with ourselves. This will be the loosening of the seals — 
the beginning of the Judgment. "Go unto thy own place," 
will be the self-pronounced sentence of the soul. 

Compensation runs like a silver thread through the uni- 
verse. Youth affects manhood. The deeds of manhood be- 
cloud or brighten the sunset of life. We weave the moral 
garments in this life that shall in quality clothe us when en- 
tering the future state of existence. 

"If all our life was one broad glare 
Of sunlight clear, unclouded, 
If all our path were smooth and fair, 
By no deep gloom enshrouded ; 

If all life's flowers were fully blown 

Without the slow unfolding, 
And happiness mayhap was thrown 



Then we should miss the twilight hours, 

The intermingling sadness, 
And pray perhaps for storms and showers 

To break the constant gladness. 

If none were sick and none were sad, 
What service could we render ? 

I think if we were always glad 
We hardly could be tender. 

Did our beloved never need 

Our loving ministration, 
Life would grow cold, and miss indeed 

Its finest consolation. 



IS IT THE SOUL OR THE BODY THAT SINS? 59 

If sorrow never smote the heart, 

And every wish were granted, 
Then faith would die, and hope depart, 

And life be disenchanted. 

And if in heaven is no more night, 

In heaven no more sorrow, 
Such unimagined pure delight 

Fresh grace from pain will borrow. 

As the poor seed that underground 

Seeks its true life above it, 
Not knowing where it will be found 

When sunbeams touch and love it, — 

So we in darkness upward grow, 

And look and long for heaven ; 
Yet cannot reach it here below, 

Till more of light be given." 



60 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CLOTHING IN THE SPIRIT-WORLD — ITS CHARACTER, USE, 
AND HOW OBTAINED. 

" Our atmosphere is the mantle which the earth folds to her hosom during her yearly 

journeys around the sun. Nature is the garment of God. Angels are vestured in 

crystal whiteness." Pilgrim. 

"I see Hermes, unsuspected, dying, well-heloved, saying to the people, 'Do not weep 

for me, 

This is not my true country; I have lived banished from my true country — I now 

go back there ; 
I return to the celestial sphere, where every one goes in his turn.' " Whitman. 

Everything in the universe, so far as we know, is either 
clothed upon, or clothes itself. "Every mineral, every flower, 
every animal, every human being, every spirit, every object, in- 
deed, in the universe, from the sun to a dew-drop, has a pecul- 
iar atmosphere, composed of infinitesimal particles emanating 
from itself, embodying its interior nature, and proceeding to a 
certain distance around it. We find it in the magnet, by its 
attraction ; in the rose, by its perfume ; in man, by his radiat- 
ing influences of all kinds. By it the faithful dog tracks his 
master to incredible distances. By it the magnetized person 
detects the character of another by the glove or the ring he 
has worn. Every social circle, every church, every institu- 
tion, has its sphere." The heavens have their sphere, and the 
hells theirs. The sphere of an object is its natural clothing. 
But there are two kinds of clothing, the one natural, the other 
fashioned by intelligence and taste. 

Swedenborg, by far the greatest seer of modern times, 
says: 

" The extrication of the spirit from the body is an office assigned to a certain order 
of angels. They receive souls kindly, and introduce them to their new sphere, where 



CLOTHING IN THE SPIRIT WORLD. 61 

they quickly seek out those with whom they have an affinity." ..." I have fre- 
quently heard new-comers from the earth rejoicing at meeting their friends again, and 
their friends rejoicing at their arrival. Husbands and wives meet and continue to- 
gether for a long or short time, according to their mutual affinity." ..." Very many 
of the learned from the earth are amazed when they find themselves after death in 
houses, in bodies, and in garments much as those of earth.". . . " Angels appear 
clothed, and each angel in vesture corresponding to his intelligence. The most intelli- 
gent have garments which glitter as with flame, and some are resplendent as with 
light. The less intelligent have garments of clear or opaque white without splendor. 
The still less intelligent have garments of various colors." . . . "The garments of the 
angels do not merely appear to be garments, but they really are garments ; for they not 
only see, but feel them, and have many changes which they take off and put on, laying 
aside those which are not in use, and resuming them when they come into use again. 
That they are clothed with a variety of garments I have seen a thousand times." 

It was at the " end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn 
towards the first day of the week," that the angel appeared 
at the sepulchre, " clothed, in a long, white garment." The 
frightened women hurried away, telling their friends that the 
risen Jesus had met them saying, "All hail! " 

" And the angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, and came and rolled back the 
stone, and sat upon it ... . and his raiment was white as snow." 

Matthew xxviii. 2, 3. 

" And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away. And they saw a 
young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment." 

Mark xvi. 4, 5. 

While one of the evangelists denominates the spirit who 
appeared at the sepulchre an angel, and the other a young man, 
they both agree in pronouncing the garment "white." Luke, 
in speaking of the clothing, says it was "shining." 

Upon that Syrian mount when Moses and Elias appeared 
and "talked with Jesus," the evangelist says he was trans- 
figured before them . . . and " his raiment was white as the 
light." (Matt. xvii. 2, 3.) 

John, the Patmos seer, tells us that, when a door was 
opened to him in Heaven, he saw on one occasion "seven 
angels," coming out of the temple, "clothed in pure white 
linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles." 
(Rev. xv. 6.) Being in the spirit on the ^ Lord's day," he saw 
" armies of angels, clothed in fine linen, white and clean ; " 
and again, he beheld " a great multitude, which no man could 
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues 



62 IMMORTALITY. 

.... clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." 
In the first chapter of Acts, a spirit-manifestation to the dis- 
ciples is described as " two men who stood by them in white 
apparel." In the Revelation it is said : " He that overcometh 
shall be clothed in white raiment." How blessed the thought ! 
clothed in " white robes " — in " raiment white as snow " — in 
"shining garments above the brightness of the sun ! " While 
all are clothed in the spirit- world, only those are clothed in 
crystal whiteness that have " overcome " — overcome their per- 
versions, their passions, and their earthly appetites, in the 
sense of training and subordinating them to divine uses. 
Clothing in the future world corresponds to character. 

Many of the proud and costly attired of earth will find 
themselves so spiritually nude and poor in the world of spirits, 
that they will feel to compare their vestures to filthy rags. 

" And, oh ! in that future and lovelier sphere, 
Where all is made right which so puzzles us here ; 
Where the glare and the glitter and tinsel of Time 
Shall fade in the light of that region sublime, 
Where the soul, disenchanted of flesh and of sense, 
Unscreened by its trappings, and shows, and pretense, 
Must be clothed for the life and the service above, 
With purity, truthfulness, meekness, and love. 
Oh, daughters of earth ! foolish virgins, beware ! 
Lest in that upper realm you have nothing to wear ! " 

As the loving, waiting mother provides the softest and most 
delicate garments for the expectant infant, so tender mater- 
nal angels and guardian spirits, expecting and watching for 
the resurrection of spirits from, or out of, their physical bodies, 
have already prepared the gossamer garments for the loved 
ones born again. Through death comes the second — the real 
new birth ! 

In shape and appearance, spiritual vestures commonly cor- 
respond to the spirit's taste and custom when upon earth. 
The Quaker wears at first the plain dress; the Roman, the 
toga ; the Oriental, the graceful robe. But in ethereality of 
texture, garments correspond to the moral status of indi- 
viduals. 



CLOTHING IN THE SPIRIT WORLD. 63 

The first garments worn in spirit-life are gifts of love. It 
is so with infants on earth ; bnt reaching their full stature, 
each and all provide their own clothing. In the higher heav- 
ens, robes and angel vestures are woven by will-power through 
skillful hands, and woven almost in the twinkling of an eye. 
It may almost be said that glistening robes of glory come to 
angels as leaves come to the trees in spring-time, or as gorgeous 
colors come to evening clouds. As the raiments of the heav- 
enly inhabitants correspond in quality to their interior states, 
they change according to their unfoklment, and also with 
their rank and position. The robes of the archangels are so 
bright that they literally flame in matchless splendor I 

The great seer of Sweden, after describing the magnificent 
attire of spirits and angels, says : 

" I have bean with the angels in their habitations. They are exactly like our houses 
upon earth, but mose beautiful. They contain chambers, drawing-rooms, and bed- 
rooms in great numbers. They have courts, and are encompassed by gardens, flower- 
beds, ami fields." 

" Where the angels live in societies, the habitations are contiguous, and arranged in 
the form of a city, with courts, streets, and squares exactly like the cities on our earth. 
It has also been granted me to Avalk through them, and to look about on all sides. 
This occurred to me when wide awake, my interior sight being open at the time." 

" I have seen palaces in heaven so magnificent as to surpass all description. Some 
were more splendid than others. The inside was in keeping with the outside. The 
apartments were ornamented with such decorations that no language is adequate to 
the description of them." 

Our good deeds, our self-sacrificing lives construct our par- 
adises, decorate our future homes ; beautify our lawns, make 
the stars more visible, the winds more musical, and our im- 
mortal clothing more bright and shimmering. Be ye also 
ready. 

" The tissue of the life to be 

We weave with colors all our own, 
AnI in the field of destiny 
We reap as we have sown. 

Still shall the soul around it call 

The shadows which it gathered here, 
And, painted on the eternal wall, 

The past shall reappear." Whittieb. 



64 IMMOKTALITY. 



CHAPTER IX. 

LOCOMOTION IN THE WOULD OF SPIRITS. — HOW AND WHY 
SPIRITS CONNECTED WITH THEIR MORTAL BODIES, TEM- 
PORARILY LEAVE THEM. 

" I knew a man in Christ, above fourteen years ago ; whether in the body or out of 
the body I cannot tell. God knoweth; such an one caught up to the third heaven. 
And I knew such a man ; how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard un- 
speakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." 2 Cor. xii. 2-4. 

" I am now leaving my body four hours each night, and listening to medical lectures 
in one of the most magnificent pavilions that stud the spirit world. I also have a class 
that I am teaching in a sphere below the one in which I am a pupil." 

Dr. A. P. Pierce. 

Souls build the bodies they inhabit. The will moves 
them. Intelligent motion implies mind. 

The soul, a coDScious entity, related to the infinite Soul, 
God, somewhat as spark to flame, is the mechanic, the spir- 
itual form with its nerve-forces is the machinery, and the 
physical body the external building that covers mechanic and 
machinery. And why should not the thinking, conscious 
mechanic occasionally step out of his building for specific 
purposes, leaving, of course, every door and avenue well 
guarded ? 

Accompanied recently by Mrs. Taylor, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
a personal friend of Miss Fancher, the psychological wonder, 
I was permitted to visit and enjoy a most interesting conver- 
sation with this young lady, who virtually subsists without 
food, and enjoys sleep only when in the trance state. During 
the interview she spoke freely, not only of her sensitiveness, 
her trances and visions, " but," said she, " I sometimes leave 
my body and go away, — oh, so far away ! — meeting my 
mother and other dear friends, with scenery too beautiful to 
describe. I traverse fields, and walk in gardens of flowers 



LOCOMOTION IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. 65 

and fountains, and I listen to the most heavenly music. 
You cannot think how it rests me^ and I feel so sad when I 
am asked to return again to my earthly home." 

It is a well-established fact in my mind that, while human 
bodies are in a comatose condition analogous to death, only 
that the magnetic life-thread is not severed, souls leave their 
bodies, and, accompanied by guardian angels, traverse the 
spirit spheres of infinity. My belief in this phenomenon rests 
upon the following testimony : 

I. Individual experience. I know many substantial, clear- 
headed persons who affirm in the most positive manner that 
they have been temporarily released from their physical bod- 
ies ; that they were at the time conscious of being in this 
freed condition ; that they saw the bodies they had left I 
saw the silvery electric cord still connecting them with their 
bodies ; saw spirit friends whom they had known on earth ; 
visited the supernal home of these friends ; and were con- 
scious of reasoning about returning and re-entering their 
bodies. 

II. Spirits, the more wise and exalted, controlling me- 
diums unconsciously, have repeatedly informed me that in. 
consequence of a peculiar organization, coupled with wisely- 
directed magnetic preparations on the part of spirit guides, 
certain persons may and do leave their bodies temporarily, 
traveling both in the hells and the higher table-lands of im- 
mortality. 

III. Independent clairvoyants, while in their superior con- 
ditions, have frequently seen individuals of earth in the world 
of spirits, yet sympathetically connected with their bodies by 
this magnetic life-cord. Whenever this is severed, death fol- 
lows. The physical body is raised only in the sense of reap- 
pearing in grasses, grains, and forest-trees. 

Filling a lecture engagement in Troy, N. Y., a few years 
since, I went down to the hospitable home of Dr. G. L. Dit- 
son, Albany, to see Dr. E. C. Dunn. It is a cosy, comfortable 
place to visit. Retiring to our apartment for the night, Dr. 
Dunn, as usual, was entranced. The subject of conversation 
5 



66 IMMORTALITY. 

was the inter-relations of body, spirit, and soul. Aware that 
the doctor had not been in my apartment in Troy since occupy- 
ing it, I said, when leaving in the morning, lt Come as a spirit 
to Troy to-night, and write me to-morrow what you see in my 
room" 

" Most certainly," was the prompt reply, " if my spirit 
guides will help me." The next evening I received a letter 
describing my room at Mr. McCoy's, the locality of the bed, 
the furniture, the books, the pencils, the open Bible, &c, 
closing with these words: 

" I took especial notice of my body, after leaving it, as it lay in bed at Albany. A 
part of the circle guarded it. I had a very pleasant time with Aaron Knight, who 
.acted as my guide while absent from the body. The sensations were all pleasant ex- 
cept the terrible dread which always comes over me when returning to my body." 

The description of the room, the books, garments, pictures, 
open Bible with photograph in it, and other objects in my 
apartment, could hardly have been described with greater 
precision. Similar visits of exploration, and traveling out of 
and away from the physical organism, have been of frequent 
occurrence, giving unmistakable evidence to my mind that 
the doctor, as he positively asserts, was absent from his body. 

Prophets and apostles of old had analogous experiences. 
Paul, when caught up to the third heaven, did not know 
whether he was in the body or out. Plotinus, more philo- 
sophical than Paul, knew when he was out of the body, and 
returning to it, remembered who of the Platonic teachers he 
had met while traversing the higher spheres. Many mediums 
and seers have had similar experiences to those above named. 
And so the marvels of history repeat themselves. 

" I am now going away," are the opening words of our 
seer.* " Am now crossing the river I have seen before. Oh, if 
mortals only knew ! they would not care for the voyage ; they 
would only care for what they should carry with them. 

" I am now passing through a somewhat extended darkness ; 

* Several of the following pages are from an unpublished volume (1878) entitled, 
" The Beyond; or, Symbolic Teachings from the Higher Life." Edited by Herman 
Snow. 



LOCOMOTION IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. 67 

but do not feel troubled, for I am conscious that friendly sup- 
porters are near at hand. Now I see strangely-shaped build- 
ings. They seem to have no foundations. I think they must 
fall, so patched and poorly braced are they in their lower 
parts. They are the homes, I am told, of those who on earth 
were unfortunately cursed with excessive self-esteem. One 
of these now stands before me. He seems beginning to be 
conscious of his mistake and to long for its correction. And 
this ungainly-shaped and tottering building which now serves 
as his abode, is made unto him a daguerreotype, as it were, of 
his actual character ; and thus he is able to study its defects 
and gradually through effort and persistent struggle to bring 
his spirit-home — ever a reflex of character — into shapes of 
order and beauty. ' I am glad,' I said to him, i to see you go 
to work so earnestly and wisely. Will you let me come and 
see the inside when you have got your house in order ? ' I re- 
ceived no reply. 

" Now I see a spirit who does not seem to care for a home. 
He is satisfied to lie down and lazily go into a stupid sleep. 
But see ! a thunderbolt seems to strike him ; and he is aroused 
into mute amazement, while a voice exclaims, 'We have no 
idlers here ! He seems to think this rather hard, as he had 
never succeeded in having much of such lazy comfort while 
on earth, and thought he might now have his fill undisturbed. 
But he is told by spirits that only action, and much of it for 
others, can give him real comfort ! And so finally he is in- 
duced to make an effort to help some who are lower than him- 
self, when — lo ! a new consciousness begins to awaken within 
him ; and he not only gains the peace of self-approval, but 
finds also that the very effort made tends to remove the mor- 
bid accumulation of crude magnetism with which he was 
laden, and thus to make other efforts easy and pleasant. . . . 

" I now find myself in an assembly of teachers and pupils ; 
and here I am allowed to witness the methods of instruc- 
tion in spirit-life. Old and young I see occupying the same 
classes, and, strange to say, those of the same average ability, 
who have not had what is called an education on the earth, 



68 IMMORTALITY. 

here promise the most rapid progress. The reason is that the 
others have many errors to unlearn before they are prepared 
to see and acknowledge the new truths ; for here, truths are 
clearly seen by the more intuitive-minded. For it is not 
theories concerning truths, but the truths themselves, that are 
here set before the pupils. The method is more like what we 
of earth call ' object teaching ' than any other system of our 
instruction. 

"A conspicuous example of the false method of earth 
now stands out before me in the person of a self-conceited 
teacher, recently from her earthly labors. She does not seem 
at all to like the methods here pursued, and is quite free to 
criticise what is going on. She is not yet ready to take her 
proper position among the pupils, but expatiates quite freely 
on the worth of the old methods of her earthly life. The 
spirit-teacher does not seem to be in the least troubled or dis- 
couraged at the blindness and perversity of this self-opinion- 
ated novitiate ; but rather encourages her to go on and expose 
the shallowness of her mental condition, which is soon seen 
by all, but particularly by a bright and beautiful boy of not 
more than fourteen years of age, who can hardly restrain him- 
self from prematurely setting her right. 

" At length, the spirit-teacher gives her what seems to be a 
delicate spray of fern-leaf, when to her opening vision there 
appear to be beauties and marks of wisdom in it that no book 
of botany ever named ; and she begins to see and acknowledge 
the superiority of this method over the one heretofore so 
firmly fixed in her mind. Other similar experiments follow, 
until at length she is fairly transformed into a promising pupil 
of the spirit-instructor, at which the bright-minded boy ap- 
pears especially to rejoice, — in sympathy, however, not in 
triumph. 

"I leave now," said the seer, "and go again." . . . " O the 
water, how pure and peaceful it looks ! as it gurgles along in 
its course. It seems to speak of contentment, purity, and joy. 
And the modest and lovely flowers I see along its banks ; and 
the leafy shrubs ; and the tapering trees with their spiral 



LOCOMOTION IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. 69 

leaves pointing upward as if in conscious gratitude to the 
Giver of life — all these leaflets and flowers, all living things 
here, turn themselves steadily and earnestly to the light ! 
Should it be less so with man ; should he of all else seek the 
way of darkness rather than of the light? I now meet three 
weary travelers. They are toiling on beneath burdens, not 
of things of value, not of choice gems of truth and beauty ; 
but of the dry sticks of a worn-out theology which was fast- 
ened upon them by an unprincipled and arbitrary priestly rule 
while they were yet in the earth-life. True men were these, 
even in their darkened earthly condition ; for they saw not 
the iniquity of the power that held them in blind and slavish 
submission. They worked faithfully and self-sacrificingly to 
carry out the designs of those, who, though ever ready to im- 
pose heavy burdens upon others, would hardly lift a finger to 
do the work themselves. And now I see that one of these 
pilgrims begins to awaken to a sense of the folly of his course 
in thus continuing to bear his wearying and worthless burden 
when the higher and clearer light of the spirit-world is around 
him. He feels the inspiration of high and noble spirits not 
far from him, and thus urged on, he throws off his grievous 
burden, and stands up a free and happy soul ! The others, 
incited by his example and by the inspiring power which they 
also feel, do likewise. 

" And now, the same active zeal which was once used to 
uphold the rule of a false and corrupt system, is turned with 
all its force to overthrow the falsities that once so oppressed 
them. In their invisible forms they revisit old confessionals, 
and whisper to presiding priests of the lives they are leading, 
and of the terrible penalties of their oppressions. They even 
penetrate to the head-center of ecclesiastical power, and make 
their searching whispers heard by him who sits upon the 
Papal throne itself. 

" It was a martyr's life these sincere men lived upon earth ; 
and it is a martyr's crown they are now receiving in doing 
their telling work of undermining the false and upbuilding 
the true in the lands of their former toils and sufferings." 



70 IMMORTALITY. 

Spirits occupying the same sphere of sympathy and unfold- 
ment in the spirit-world, travel with the velocity of thought. 
Especially is this true after they come to understand the fluids 
and psychic forces of spirit-life; but to advance from one 
person to another who is higher, from one society to another, 
from one zone of existence to another more beatific, there 
must be preparation, interior changes in the state of the mind, 
and corresponding progressions and etherealizations of the 
spiritual body. 

There continues to reside in Boston, Mass., Dr. A. P. Pierce, 
having still, as in the past, an extensive medical practice in 
what is denominated the " higher circles " of society. While 
his healing gifts are truly wonderful, his trance experiences, 
connected with his travels in the different societies and spheres 
of spirit-life, are among the most marvelous in history. 

The most remarkable of his trances commenced on the 
27th day of November, 1856. This continued twenty-one days, 
during which time he was out of his body. Previous to this, 
and while under spirit-influence, he foretold the hour when 
the entrancement would commence. At 8 o'clock, the time 
appointed, he felt a heavy pressure over the eyes, and re- 
quested that some friends be invited to witness the change 
necessarily occasioned by the departure of the spirit from the 
body. The guests now present, some fifteen or more in num- 
ber, he knelt down and prayed to God that the " cup might 
pass." And while in the act of prayer he fell into a trance. 
His face brightened up ; his body became rigid as though 
dead ; and in this condition he fell upon the floor. The con- 
trolling intelligence now said that he and " others had taken 
the body in charge, and would give instructions from day to 
day as to its management." 

During the time of Dr. Pierce's absence from the body, 
several different spirits possessed, or controlled it ; ivhich spirits, 
owing to their magnetic connection with the body and their 
sympathetic relations with Dr. Pierce temporarily in spirit-life, 
served as mediums to describe the doctor's experiences in the 
various societies and spheres through which he passed. 



LOCOMOTION IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. 71 

1st Sphere. — " There are here many circles and conditions. 
It seems dark and gloomy. Spirits are as low as the very 
lowest in the body. They dispute, wrangle, and have all the 
passions they had on earth. Some return to their old asso- 
ciates, and re-enact the scenes of earth. Some remain here a 
very long period of time before light reaches them. It is ter- 
rible to contemplate." 

2d Sphere. — Entering this, the doctor's spirit took on 
new conditions. The atmosphere was more rarefied, the ele- 
ments more ethereal. Appearances corresponded largely to 
the better conditions of earth. He saw " spirits preparing 
spiritual food from spiritual elements and auras." Those in 
the higher circles of this sphere were instructing the lower. 
Most of the objects seemed natural yet new. 

3d Sphere. — Passing into this condition, or zone of spirit- 
existence, he beheld spirits entering from the mortal state to 
receive the welcome and the care of those who had passed 
from the earthly life before them. They seemed to class 
themselves according to the laws of affinity. He saw them 
engaged in mental telegraphing, studying the principles of 
chemistry, and in various ways adorning their habitations. 
Here were animals of the higher order, and birds, as well as 
Indian hunting-grounds and attractive lodges. 

4th Sphere. — In this sphere the garments of the spirits 
seemed brighter and of a much finer texture. Instead of 
being in isolated homes, they lived in groups and associations. 
Spirits from the fifth and sixth spheres teach them. "I see 
birds, flowers, and a lemon-shaped fruit, rich and juicy. I do 
not know its name. I see these spirit-people constructing 
musical instruments, and trying to control the elements for 
various purposes. All are industrious. They have extensive 
grounds well laid out, tastefully .arranged buildings, in a room 
of one of which were nicely arranged paintings on the walls, 
and flowers neatly placed around the windows ; the furniture 
is soft and pliable, and constructed by a combination of the 
elements ; lakes on which the swan gracefully moves to and 
fro. They propose to change spheres by going through three 



72 "^-^IMMORTALITY. 

degrees of education, receiving their instruction from spirits of 
the sixth sphere. The Indians have also their lodges here. 
Their food is like that in the other circles, growing on vines 
which trail along the ground. For musical instruments the 
harp is used, to which they dance and sing, and are very 
happy — far more so than in the circles." 

5th Sphere. — Here "the light is still brighter, and the 
spirits seem more calm, serene, and self-balanced. They have 
walks tastefully arranged around their dwellings, with flower- 
beds, groves and lawns with shade-trees ; lakes much larger 
than those in the fourth sphere, with boats of corresponding 
size playing backwards and forwards. They have places 
where they congregate to study the fine arts, and colleges for 
astronomy and mathematics ; also schools for instruction in 
mechanical arts and spirit-agriculture. The fruit grows on 
delicate bushes, something like the pear. These inhabitants 
are clear in their expression of spirit understanding. They 
vocalize and play upon musical instruments, and are joyous 
and very happy. 

" Their clothing is very light and spiritual. In the fourth 
circle of this sphere the light is like the setting sun to your 
earth, very genial and bright. Here are mountains and rivers 
made attractive by beautiful scenery. The spirits have labo- 
ratories and factories for purifying and clearing the elements ; 
lakes with vessels, and ponds with boats on them, as well as 
wild geese and ducks, but they are more refined than those 
upon the earth. On the margin of a lake, is an Indian en- 
campment. Here I meet the spirits of three Indians, who 
greet me and invite me to visit their lodges, where they have 
a talk about the pale-face Pierce, whom they knew on the 
earth. 

" The houses of these spiritual inhabitants are symmetrical 
and tastefully arranged inside, with paintings, drawings, and 
fine furniture, which are tangible to the spirit; the pianoforte 
is also here, upon which they play, accompanied by singing 
and dancing, which constitutes a part of their spiritual enjoy- 
ment, and is done to the honor and glory of God. They have 






LOCOMOTION IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. 73 

walks adorned with shade trees, on which are richly-plumaged 
birds singing their lays, making the elements vocal with sweet 
music; their fruit grows in arbors and bowers, and is shaped 
like the apple, but more delicious to the taste and strengthen- 
ing to the unfolding spirit as it is passing on to the higher 
circles of progression in knowledge. I meet with one of my 
friends whom I knew on earth, John S. Gilman. They con- 
verse of earth-life and spirit-life, showing that memory, like 
pure love, is immortal." 

6th Sphere. — Do not understand that these spheres are ab- 
solutely separated the one from the other. They interblend, 
and shade off into each other, something as do rainbow hues. 
In the " first circle of this sphere, light dawns with great bril- 
liancy. Here I saw a magnificent observatory. Newton was 
teaching. They have rivers, extensive plains, and lakes clear 
as crystal. They are building boats of a singular structure. 
They have scientific institutions for designs and new inven- 
tions, all of which, when perfected, are to be impressed upon 
the minds of the sensitives of earth, and then outwrought 
into practical use. The avenues are laid out with shade-trees 
for walking. 

u The climate and influences are more congenial to the spirit. 
They have gardens arranged with choicest fruit-trees. The 
apple, pear, apricot, and fruit such as I had never seen, are 
beautiful and spiritual. They arrange their houses in groups, 
and have a kind of railroad to go from one group to the other. 
They are very refined in their manners, very loving and affec- 
tionate. 

" In the third circle of this sphere the spirits have vast 
educational places for assembling together, in one of which is 
the Poet's Hall, where the risen poets of earth are preparing 
poetical versions of the heavens. They have plain yet ele- 
gant churches for spiritual culture. Whitfield is preaching 
to them upon the necessity of spiritual purity and perfection. 
They have here observatories. Herschel is teaching, and 
other noted astronomers have classes. Here also they are 
traversing the ether spaces in aerial cars, which will ulti- 



74 IMMORTALITY. 

rnately descend to earth. I see many fountains around their 
houses, and flowers too beautiful for description. The food, 
exceedingly ethereal, is nutritious to the spiritual body. 
They have spiritual mansions, where spirits meet in sacred 
fellowship. I entered one, where I was received in fellow- 
ship. These spirits are very congenial to each other, and 
happy. 

11 In the ' higher circles of this sphere light dawns in brighter 
effulgence.' The spirits have large colleges to receive youth- 
ful minds as they come from earth, where sportive children are 
instructed in the higher truths of the heavenly life. Here also 
is a magnificent music hall ; Mrs. Hemans, Hannah More, and 
others are here, rehearsing the lyrics of the heavens. Here too 
are colleges for preparing teachers to come to earth to instruct 
and inspire mortals. William Penn, Roger Williams, and 
others, are here teaching. Youthful minds are their students. 
Also a university of music, where it is taught in its various 
methods. Places of worship for the adoration of* God. Mil- 
ton and others are here teaching, and they are also teachers 
of earth. Here, in amazement, I beheld the higher birth of 
several young spirits out of their earthly bodies. They were 
received with singing and words of welcome to their new 
home. The scenery is beautiful, with sloping hills and undu- 
lating plains. Flowers in rich abundance perfume the air, 
and warbling birds commingle their music with the spirits. 
Their houses are laid out in large circles, twelve houses in a 
circle, with walks and grounds around them, with trees and 
shrubbery; various kinds of fruit are grown for their own 
nourishment ; joy and harmony pervade everywhere. As they 
live in higher scenes or conditions, they are consequently the 
more highly spiritualized. Here the Indians have homes on 
one side of the river-bank, unique, yet beautiful. Luna, an 
Indian girl, Pocahontas, and others, are here happy and joy- 
ous, all commingling together in purity of spirit and in the 
love of God. . . . 

" In this circle the atmosphere is exhilarating to the spirit ; 
the houses are in circles of six, with more extended grounds, 



LOCOMOTION IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. 75 

and the flowers more variegated and richly perfumed ; the 
spirits have arbors, with vines running round them, with fruit 
like the grape, but larger and purer. The spirit brightens 
after partaking of it. Mountains rise in the distance, with 
extended plains, with water-powers, and clear, transparent 
lakes. They have colleges of design with landscape paintings. 
Hannibal, Chambers, and others are here in the capacity of 
teachers. I meet here three sons of Samuel Haynes, of Bel- 
fast, who are receiving instruction. The spirits have buildings 
for instruction in music, embroidery, and the composition of 
flowers, in their higher formations. Here I meet one by the 
name of Helen A. Pierce receiving instruction. Children are 
receiving instruction, and are learning to sing and play on 
the harp. Congeniality of spirit reigns prominent here. The 
young assemble in classes for the cultivating of flowers and 
the spiritual development of their minds, and all is done for 
the good of others and the glory of God." 

1th Sphere. " Light now dawns with celestial brilliancy ! 
The scenery is grand ; the teachers are from the celestial 
spheres. Unity of feeling and love universally pervades this 
divine realm. They have vast universities. In one of these 
were surgeons from various parts of the world — America, 
England, France, Russia, Prussia, China, Japan, and other 
countries of the globe. 

" The studies here were anatomical, psychological, and spir- 
itual ; also great attention was given to the laws of mesmer- 
ism, magnetism, impressional and inspirational influences, that 
they might by influx become better understood upon earth. . . . 

" In this circle they do not seem to have fixed habitations, 
but when they need a covering, it is immediately improvised 
from the elements ; they talk with each other by looks — being 
transparent, they see each other's thoughts ; when they wish 
for refreshment they compound it out of the elements, and 
from etherealized fluids; they telegraph by thought of the 
spirit. The air is melodious with warbling notes of gaily- 
plumaged birds. These spirits visit by thought and will. 
They descend to the other circles and to the earth to teach. 



76 IMMORTALITY. 

Here are children descending in groups from the celestial 
heavens, covered with flowers, and bearing baskets of fruit on 
their arms, to be taught in wisdom and music, and the compo- 
sition of flowers, to be prepared to visit other spheres and 
earth, and gather knowledge. They are very noble in stature, 
symmetrical in form, and pure in spirit, constantly joining 
together in singing, praise, and worship, and they manifest 
great joy and congeniality of mind. . . . 

" Each acts up to his ideal — and labor is a work of love. I 
see in this celestial sphere no insects or lower forms of animal 
life. I see multitudes of spirits coursing their way through 
the elements, visiting and commingling with each other in 
different parts of the circle, and visiting the earth and spheres 
and then returning. . . . 

" The joy here is ecstatic. Thousands of happy children 
assemble to greet with music and messages of love those who 
arrive from other spheres as visitors or explorers in the realm 
of thought. Their very motions are musical, and they con- 
verse by looks and facial expressions. Oh, could you con- 
nect with this vital cord and ascend up here and behold the 
glory and joy that reigns, you would not wish to return. I 
shall soon be with you again, but do not desire to stay, but 
must, so they say, return and take up the body. I want you 
to prepare while living to ascend to the celestial spheres, and 
live with these joyous and happy spirits." . . . 

On the 11th of December the previous guides retired, giv- 
ing place to a higher order of spiritual intelligence, among 
which, it was said, were Josephus, Samuel, the prophet Dan- 
iel, and others. . . . The body of the medium having received 
but a very trifle of nourishment since the beginning of the 
entrancement had become exceedingly weak. And yet, un- 
der the direction of spirits, who on earth were physicians, the 
medium's body had received the most careful attention from 
Mrs. Pierce and other anxious friends. . . . There was now 
a cessation of the communications for several hours. This, the 
attendants were informed, was necessary while the spirit, away 
from the mediumistic body, was being prepared for the condi- 






LOCOMOTION m THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. 77 

tions that pertained to the sensitive states in the higher and 
more heavenly spheres. 

Commencing the communications again at seven o'clock, 
from the first circle of the celestial spheres, the medium re- 
porting down through the spheres below him, says : " The 
scenery and surroundings here are too glorious for delinea- 
tion. No poet can describe them, no artist put them upon 
canvas. The rays of light seem to descend from the great 
central sun of the universe. The atmosphere is warm, mel- 
low, and golden. Breathing is living. All is calm and peace- 
ful. The clothing of the spirits is ethereal and shining in 
their whiteness. The dreams of paradise are here more than 
realized. Humility is the gem, truth the pearl sought for, 
love the law obeyed, and wisdom the purpose of the soul's 
perpetual search. Everything moves in perfect harmony, be- 
cause near the great Ruling Spirit of the' universe. . . . 

" Now a vast assembly of spirits meet me, and I am led to 
a large pavilion prepared for my reception. Heavenly music 
greets my ears, and the delicious odors of flowers are cast 
over and around me. Now six beautiful spirits approach me, 
clothed in shining garments, and girt about with golden gir- 
dles. Samuel, the ancient prophet, steps forth, facing me, 
having in his hand a golden horn. And another spirit ap- 
proaching, removes my outer garments, placing them upon a 
cushion of white flowers, and Samuel, in the name of God the 
Father of us all, anoints me with holy oil. The influence of 
this, poured upon my head, penetrates to the very depths of 
my being. It seemingly expands and vivifies my whole spirit 
form. He now places upon my head a crown of mingled 
thorns and flowers, symbolizing the mission that I have yet to 
fulfill upon earth. Though illumined, I feel that I have 
thorny paths to tread ; but sweet-scented flowers will bloom 
along the pathways of my life. They now place upon me 
another spiritual garment, bright and more ethereal, praying 
that I may never soil it." . . . 

Very soon after this spiritual anointing and heavenly bap- 
tism, Dr. Pierce saw, surrounded by a halo of golden light, — 



78 IMMOETALITY. 

a light almost unapproachable — the great Mediator — Jesus 
of Nazareth. . . . Conducted by these ancient spirits, this me- 
dium visited other planets, describing them so far as he could 
find appropriate language so to do. Still traversing these di- 
vine abodes, he at one time exclaimed : " These spirits about 
me now have bodies more transparent, if possible, than purest 
crystal. When they need sustenance they condense ethereal 
essences, and appropriate them by absorption. In the most 
perfect purity of spirit they live together in one great family, 
passing and repassing at will to the different planets that dot 
the immensities. They are humble and reverent, continually 
worshiping God in purity. Through the perfection of the 
elements their motions fill the air with sweetest music. In 
my earthly body clothing is for concealment and comfort, but 
these beings are so pure that only a gauze-like covering drapes 
their spirit forms. They live and bathe in an atmosphere of 
purity and love." . . . 

This medium had been absent so long from his physical 
body — absent save the connecting cord of sympathy — that 
it was with the greatest difficulty that he could re-enter and 
re-possess his organism. Not only was he blind and over- 
sensitive at first, but be could neither use his vocal organs to 
speak, nor make use of his limbs to walk. Some other symp- 
toms, not necessary to name, were exceedingly alarming. But 
the sensitiveness gradually disappeared, and the physical and 
spiritual forces, after a few days, assumed their wonted equi- 
librium. 

On December 23d he was weighed, and it was found that 
he had lost eleven and a half pounds of flesh during the 
twenty-one days' entrancement. 

If I rightly comprehend these marvelous experiences, of 
which I have subjoined a condensed report, they teach that 
the medium, Dr. Pierce, being previously prepared, and then 
aided by a sympathizing band of intelligent spirits, literally 
left his body, — save the magnetic life-cord, — and roamed 
through many of the societies, circles, and spheres of intelli- 
gences that dwell in the many-mansioned realm of immor- 



LOCOMOTION IN THE WORLD OF SPIRITS. 79 

tality. While out of his body, other spirits did not enter into 
it, but they held a charge over, ministering to, and controlling 
it psychologically. 

The full history of this remarkable and very strange 
twenty-one days' trance has been related to me, not only 
by Dr. Pierce and his excellent family, but by several other 
witnesses. The doctor is a resident of Boston, and a prac- 
tising physician.* 

* The seven spheres above described are properly included within the " Ultimate 
Heavens " mentioned by Sweclenborg and other seers. Above these, according to 
these writers, are the "Spiritual Heavens" and the "Celestial Heavens," each of 
which are again subdivided into a seven-fold series. The more interior visions, or 
spiritual journeyings, of the seer just quoted, probably relate to the Spiritual Heavens. 



80 , IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER X. 

OUR LITTLE ONES IN HEAVEN. 

" ' Do they want me up in heaven ? Can you tell me, mamma clear, 
What those strange and solemn voices mean that in the night I hear, 
Softly saying, " Come, dear children ; for of such our kingdoms are " ? 
Do you think they want me yonder ? Is it very, very far ? 

Oh, I hear such heavenly music ; and there's something all in white 
Comes and stands beside my little bed, and makes the room so light 
That I look at you and papa, and at brother Georgie, too; 
Wondering you can sleep. But maybe it's for me, and not for you. 

And they clasp their arms about me, and I do not think of pain, 
For I close my eyes and listen till the music comes again. 
They are calling me so tenderly, I know I can not stay 
Only just a little longer, till the coming of the day. 

Mamma, kiss me ! Papa, hold me ! Clasp my hands so close and strong 
That I may not lose your presence in the glory of the throng 
Who have come to take me from you, and will wait for you again, 
When clear Jesus says, " Come higher ! Joy receive for grief and pain." 

There is something I must tell you ere I go, if you can hear : 
I shall tell them how I loved you ; they can never be more dear ; 
And perhaps they'll let me see you, when you think I'm far away, 
And will let me guard and guide your steps from evil day by day. 

When you pray, I may be listening, and my heart will thrill with joy. 
If you fail and sin — God help us ! — it will crush your darling boy. 
I shall draw you to me softly, as the angels take me now.' 
So the little voice is silenced, and the stricken mourners bow." 

The Independent. 

" Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me : for of such is the 
kingdom of heaven." Jesus. 

There is nothing purer, sweeter to look upon than a smil- 
ing infant. The poet tenderly sung : 

" The angels have need of these holy buds in their gardens so fair ; 
They graft them on immortal stems to bloom forever there." 

Earth is the seminary of Heaven — the land where the 
soul takes root in the material to develop and perfect a more 



OUE LITTLE ONES IN HEAVEN". 81 

mature individuality. It is the rudimentary school — the be- 
ginning of experiences on the outer verge of the great cycle 
of life. All infants and children are, of course, still children 
in the beginning of the resurrection state. They are not 
angels, but only capable of becoming such. The actual evils, 
of the world, not having been rooted in their tender minds, 
they are at death taken immediately into the care of good 
spirits and angels whose ruling desire is a delight in children. 
They find great peace in the exercise of this loving care, and 
the discharge of this heavenly duty. They watch and wait 
for the coming of the little ones, that they may bear them 
tenderly in their loving arms to the spheres of purity and 
the schools of the angels. 

A few years ago, in a New England village, a little boy lay 
on his death-bed. Starting suddenly up, he exclaimed, " O 
mother, mother ! I see such a beautiful country, and so many 
little children, who are beckoning me to them ! but there are 
high mountains between us, too high for me to climb. Who 
will carry me over ? " After thus expressing himself, he 
leaned back on his pillow, and for a while seemed to be in 
deep thought, when, once more arousing, and stretching out 
his little hands, he cried, as loud as his feeble voice would 
permit, " Mother, mother, the man 's come to carry me over 
the mountain." He was peacefully asleep. The man had 
indeed come to carry the little one over. 

" In the spirit world," says a writer, " I have seen the happy groups of children 
frolicking, dancing, gathering flowers, listening to music, gaining instruction, and un- 
folding in beauty and in life. Gleesome sounds burst from their gleesome hearts — 
sweet lisps of affection and the mischievous froHcs of the child-heart. But around every 
child was an aura, or a thread of life, that connected it with earth, so that it was to 
know where it was born, and to tell each one's parentage. It was forever floating 
through the spirit atmosphere — the spirit-forces of the parents went upward, and by 
natural law wound their life around and in their little ones. This life is the result of 
affections, and if the child is loved but little, then the spirit law has severed the child 
from this life, since it was by attraction — which is love — that the life of earth fol- 
lowed it away into the spirit world and wound itself about the child of its love. There 
is no force power but by a natural law of spirit — law of life." 

"The spiritual bodies of little children grow transcendently lovely. No human 
mind can conceive of the beauty and grace of these little ones. No unlovely objects 
harm them — no frightful disease rends them. They unfold, as in spring the rosebud 

6 



82 IMMORTALITY. 

opens to the sun, or as the petals of the lily unclose to the light of day. They all bear 
a semblance, at first, to their natural bodies ; but as their souls grow and their spirits 
shine with the life of their souls, then they appear as their interior, or mind, makes 
them. The spirit body flows from the natural body. It is composed of its electric, 
magnetic, and spiritual life, and when first born into spirit life it has the exact form of 
the natural body. But as the grosser particles of its earthly magnetism are given off, 
and it becomes purer and truer, higher and holier, then it assumes a form of perfec- 
tion and beauty. What the soul wills or reveals, that is life and form and substance to 
the spirit. 

" It often occurs that parents pass to the spirit world not long before their children, 
or perhaps at the same time. Being uninstructed in spiritual things, being ignorant of 
many, very many of the spiritual laws, they are ill fitted to develop the spiritual life of 
the child. Therefore, never mourn that you cannot go when your child goes. It has 
wiser nurses than you — nobler teachers ; if it has not more love, yet it has a higher 
love — the love developed by wisdom." 

" The spirits of little children are always magnetized into unconsciousness before 
death. They are never left to pass away and know the change. Sweetly sleeping, 
they are borne by the loved ones heavenward, laid upon downy couches, fanned by 
gentle breezes. Sometimes they sleep for days, for their spirits are tired with the un- 
natural pains of earth. They awake refreshed, and open their eyes upon the beautiful 
objects that childhood loves, — the most beautiful flowers, bright colors, and sweetly- 
singing birds. And when the little one becomes accustomed to its celestial life, and 
feels the exultation of freedom from pain and weariness, then it is prepared to visit 
often those who call for it by continual longing. The wishing and longings of the 
hearts of earth are the spirit voices of earth.. You speak your desire when you long 
earnestly, for your spirit speaks. With loving bands the ministering angel bears these 
little children back to the homes of earth, that they may feel the warmth of parental 
love and know the joy of earthly affections. If around the earthly parents or friends 
there is a healthful spiritual atmosphere, they ofttimes remain days, and with their 
little voices send to the spirit ear of the desolate parents heavenly joy. It is the spirit 
that must behold them, and without the aid of the external vision the spirit recognizes 
them. But even when not borne thus, by their life they keep still the link to earth. 
Is there anything imperfect in the universe of God ?• 

" Now, let me speak of the office of these little children in spirit life. Their office 
is twofold — to earth and to heaven. It is only those who have lost children to sight 
and to sense who can know the longing and wish of love sent thither by the bereaved 
heart. The mother's whole life — her sense of joy, of hope, of wish — her prayers, 
her desires, all centred in this object when it passed away. However much of love 
there was for others, yet then it was not allowed to express itself: it burned about the 
loved one gone. Is that kind parent's heart to turn from earth to heaven, and be 
mocked by nothingness. No ! The tender life of your child is still with you : you 
claim it — you must have it. And so the link of that parent's soul, bright, glowing 
with God's love — for God is love — is made firm to heaven. Can parents forget their 
child ? Can they draw back their hearts from it ? No ! Upward go their prayers, 
onward go their aspirations, until those parents live partly on earth and partly in 
heaven. Their spiritual nature grows ; they are less selfish, more tender ; they are 
nearer to heaven for every thought of love sent thither. The father's strong nature 
rises to a sublimity of hope, and borne to each, from the realm they seek in thought 
and prayer, come the sweet ministrations that purify and ennoble the heart of man. 



OUR LITTLE ONES IN HEAVEN. 83 

And those who feci that they have still to perform the sacred office of love by their 
own life to their child in heaven must shame into silence every unworthy thought — 
must ennoble and purify their lives, and must prove themselves worthy so sacred an 
office." 

"We appeal to you, O reader, in truth, be perfect, purify yourself, bring yourself 
into harmony with the divine nature. Study this law of childhood, of its growth and 
the influence you have upon it, and you will read God's words. O pai-ents and friends, 
become holy by becoming spiritual, that you may create beauty arid holiness. If you 
study the laws that unite you to the little ones in heaven, you will read in them only 
this command : Fit yourselves to be teachers of angel children." 

In that beautiful volume entitled, "Heaven Opened" 
through the mecliumship of F. I. Theobald, London, Eng., 
we have the history of one who entered the spirit world a 
child. How sweet the message : 

" When I first awoke to spirit life, I was not conscious that I had passed away. I 
found myself surrounded by all delightful things. Lovely forms were around me, 
harmonious sounds filled my ears, and all things were beautiful. But beautiful as 
they presented themselves to me on my first awakening, they were not perceived by 
my eyes (hardly aroused to the fullness of spirit power) in the very fullness of their 
beauty. I was not capable of assimilating to my senses the full extent of the grandeur. 
That comes gradually, and belongs to the training of the spirit. My perceptions were 
as yet dull ; therefore as the idea of fairy land had always been the beau-ideal of all 
things charming, although I could not put the expression of this beau-ideal in lan- 
guage, still I thought myself to be in fairy land. Nothing else could I think of." . . . 

" Much have we young spirits to be taught. We have regular classes for instruc- 
tion in all branches of knowledge and science, which is from us given to your earth 
philosophers. It is all originated here. Most of the human discoveries and signs of 
progress are taught or inspired into your earth minds from those of us here who are 
deputed to transmit that especial knowledge. It depends upon the sphere or society of 
spirits, capable of opening inner communicaton with the especial man, or medium, 
what kind of knowledge is taught by that man. He originates little or nothing him- 
self. He may, by his own innate spirit power, expand the germ of knowledge im- 
planted by us from God, but nothing more. As we spirits here are taught, so do we 
in turn impart our teachings to the imprisoned spirit in the earth body ; and thus does 
God in his goodness cause man to alleviate his own condition." 

" There are vast assemblies of us. We have large pavilion houses dedicated to 
knowledge. But when we are taught of botany, and of all the wonders of nature in 
which we live, we go in large companies on many long journeys of exploration. This 
is truly delightful. The advanced spirits, those who are suited for such, and who de- 
sire it, visit various planets in the universe." 

The activity of the love nature in man is a prophecy of 
the harmonial man. The same Jesus that wept with Martha 
and Mary at the grave of Lazarus, took little children in his 
arms and blessed them, saying, " Of such is the Kingdom of 
Heaven." 



84 IMMORTALITY. 

One of the editors of the New York Musical Review, Mr. 
Bradbury, writing under the inspiration of a father's outgush- 
ing love and affliction over the loss of a beautiful child, says : 

" Kittie is gone. Where ? To heaven. An angel came and took her away. She 
was a lovely child — gentle as a lamb ; the pet of the whole family ; the youngest of 
them all. But she could not stay with them any longer. She had an angel sister in 
heaven waiting for her. The angel sister was with us only a few months, but she has 
been in heaven many years, and she must have loved Kittie, for everybody loved her. 
The loveliest flowers are soonest plucked. If a little voice, sweeter and more musical 
than others, was heard, I knew Kittie was near; if my study-door opened so gently and 
stilly that no sound was heard, I knew Kittie was near ; if after an hour's quiet play a 
little shadow passed me, and the door opened and shut as no one else could open and 
shut it, ' so as not to disturb papa,' I knew Kittie was going. 

" When in the midst of my composing I heard a gentle voice saying, ' Papa, may I 
stay with you a little while ? I will be very still,' I did not need to look off my work to 
assure me that it was my little lamb. You stayed with me too long, Kittie dear, to 
leave me so suddenly : and you are too still now. You became my little assistant — 
my home angel — my youngest and sweetest singing-bird — and I miss the little voice 
that I have so often heard in an adjoining room, catching up and echoing little snatches 
of melody as they were being composed. I miss those soft and sweet kisses ; I miss 
the little hand that was always first to be placed on my forehead, ' to drive away the 
pain ; ' I miss the sound of those little feet upon the stairs ; I miss the little knock at 
my bedroom-door in the morning, and the triple good-night kiss in the evening; I 
miss the sweet smiles from the sunniest of faces ; I miss — oh ! how I miss the fore- 
most in the little group who came out to meet me at the gate for the first kiss ; I miss 
you at the table and at family worship; I miss your voice in ' I want to be an angel,' 
for nobody could sing it like you ; I miss you in my rides and walks ; I miss you in 
the garden ; I miss you everywhere ; but I will try not to miss you in heaven. ' Papa, 
if we are good, will an angel truly come and take us to heaven when we die ? ' When 
the question was asked, how little did I think the angel was so near. But he did 
' truly ' come, and the sweet flower is transplanted to a genial clime. ' I do wish papa 
would come home.' Wait a little while, Kittie, and papa will come. The journey is 
not long. He will soon be home." 

Swedenborg, the clearest seer since Jesus of Syria, and 
John of Patnios, saw with unsealed eyes the glories of the 
inner life of the upper courts of Heaven. 'He observes in 
his diary : 

" I saw a garden constructed not of trees, but of leafy arches, somewhat lofty, with 
walks and entrance ways, and a virgin walking therein, and also infants five or six 
years old, who were beautifully clothed. And when she entered, the most exquisite 
wreaths of garlands of flowers sprang forth over the entrance, and shone with splen- 
dor as she approached. I was informed that little infant girls see objects in this man- 
ner, that they appear thus to walk and thus to be clothed and to be adorned with new 
garments according to their perfection. That all this appears to them to the life may 
be inferred from the fact that such things are suitable to a spirit, who cannot walk on 
a paved or graveled way, nor possess such gardens as exist on earth, but such things 
only as correspond to the nature of a spirit ! It is sufficient that they perceive them as 



OUR LITTLE ONES IN HEAVEN. 85 

vividly; yea, more vividly than men perceive similar things in gardens in this world; 
as I have also perceived them when I have been in spirit, and often at other times, as 
did the prophets. August 15, 1749." 

Death, seen from, the mount of Spiritualism, is a poem — a 
delightful transition that bears our loved ones over the river, 
but not away from us. Though many of us can not see 
them, they see us. Our little ones, whose infantile bodies we 
laid away under the turf where the wild-brier twines, and 
spring flowers bloom, are with us still. Gruardian angels bring 
them to us. They look into our faces. They listen to our 
language, and in a measure we are their educators still. Do 
we not love them ; and is not that love mutual ? Do we not 
desire to meet and be with them when the good angel of death 
beckons us to the thither side of Jordan's peaceful river? 
Then must we be just and kind, manly and spiritual. 

If our lives have been noble and self-sacrificing, our souls 
will be pure with the purity of the morning ; they will be 
beautiful with the beauty of the evening; they will be lovely 
with the loveliness of the silvery moonlight ; and they will be 
peaceful with that peace that passeth all understanding ; and 
we shall be prepared to re-clasp the loved ones in our arms, 
listening to the lute-like words, " Welcome, father ! welcome, 
mother! come with us to our homes — our angel homes of 
beauty and blessedness." 

If death and sleep have been compared to twin brothers, 
old age has been compared to childhood — once a man, twice 
a child. The ripening years of " old age are stalls in the 
cathedral of life in which aged men may sit and listen and 
meditate and be patient till the service is over, and in which 
they may get themselves ready to say Amen." 

Since the dawn of Spiritualism, the phrase " the silent 
majority," as applied to the dead, has nearly gone out of use. 
Though our friends, one by one, singly and alone, have passed 
on, or continue to emigrate, they are not silent. " Being dead," 
as the apostle says, "they yet speak." And we, in speaking 
of the dead, should not tell how we loved, but how we love 
them. We should cease to talk of them as though they were 



86 IMMORTALITY. 

not, but rather, should we speak of them as though in our 
midst. On festal occasions we should set for them the empty 
chair, put the plate in its accustomed place and the bouquet 
of flowers upon the board, treasure for a season the little keep- 
sakes, and consciously realize that death, coming like a masked 
angel, to release them from physical pain, has only removed 
them from our visible, tangible embrace. Spiritually they are 
not separated or dissociated from us. Our affections flow into 
and mingle with theirs still. Though their homes — speaking 
after the order of earth — may be far away in angel realms, 
the islands of the blest — guardian angels delight to bring 
them to us in dreams, and in the visions of the night. Let 
us try to so live that when the white hand of death is laid 
upon us, we may go with them up through the spheres to the 
beautiful island-homes of immortality. 

Socrates, in the Grorgias (p. 523) tells Callicles to listen to 
what he believes to be true. "In the days of Cronos," says 
he, " there was this law respecting the destiny of man : that 
he who has lived all his life in justice and holiness shall go, 
when he dies, to the Islands of the Blest, and dwell there in 
perfect happiness out of the reach of evil." 

" The islands of the hlest : they say 
The islands of the blest 
Are peaceful and happy by night and day, 
Far away in the glorious West. 

They need not the moon in that land of delight, 

They need not the pale, pale star ; 
The sun, he is bright by day and night 

Where the souls of the blessed are. 

They till not the ground, they plough not the wave.. 

They labor not — never ! oh, never ! 
Not a tear do they shed, not a sigh do they heave, — 

They are happy forever and ever. 

Soft is the breeze, like the evening one, 

When the sun has gone to his rest ; 
And the sky is pure, and clouds there are none, 

In the islands of the blest. 

The deep, clear sea, in its mazy bed, 

Doth garlands of gems unfold ; 
Not a tree, but it blazes with crowns for the dead, 

Even flowers of living gold." 



EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE HELLS INTO HEAVEN. 87 



CHAPTER XL 

THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF AARON KNIGHT THROUGH 
THE HELLS INTO HEAVEN. 

" I know thee not — I never heard thine earthly voice : 
Yet, could I choose a friend from all the spheres, 
Thy spirit high should be my spirit's choice, 
Thy heart should guide my heart, 
Thy mind, my mind." 

Q. How long have you been in spirit-life, Mr. Knight ; and 
what was your condition there after the transition ? 

A. I left your earth-land of darkness from Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, nearly two hundred years since, and my condition, im- 
mediately after the change of worlds, was far from being 
pleasurable or desirable. 

Q. What were your sensations when fully realizing the 
change ? 

A. It is difficult to describe them, because of the confusion 
of thought and the dark, weird strangeness of the situation. 
I did not live the life I ought to have lived when encased in 
a mortal body. This added to, if it did not cause the confu- 
sion and painful dissatisfaction. 

Although my father was a prominent churchman, and my 
brother, the Rev. James Knight, an English clergyman, I was 
a materialist and given to intoxicating beverages. Coming to 
consciousness in spirit-life, I was at first inclined to doubt my 
existence ; at least, I could not realize that my body was dead, 
and that I was still living in the same shaped yet far more 
attenuated and etherealized body. Was I dreaming? This 
could not be, for I saw my body buried, which when done, 
the attending spirits left me to myself — left me alone. 



88 IMMORTALITY. 

The atmosphere surrounding me was dark-hued and hazy. 
It seemed to belong to me, and I said to myself, " How strange, 
I see no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell; and yet I exist — 
but oh, so lonely!" Just how long this suspense continued 
I cannot tell. It is not pleasant, considering the position that 
I now occupy under the providence of God and His good 
angels, to reflect back upon it. All learn in our life, if not 
in yours, that penalties, like shadows, follow us each and all; 
none can get away from themselves ! . . . After lingering for 
a time in this darkness, and thinking intently upon some of 
the rollicking associates who passed to what you term spirit- 
life, before me, they were attracted to me by the psychic law 
of sympathy, and I joined them in their haunts and engaged 
in their frivolous pursuits. My spirit-world at this time was 
the earth-world. Often did I, with others, resort to inns and 
coffee-houses, and engage with mortals psychologically and 
sympathetically in games, fox-chasing, hurdle-leaping, and 
other useless and unprofitable sports. Though nominally in 
the world of spirits, my affections and thoughts continued 
upon earthly things. . My moral status and tendency of mind 
barred me away from the heavens of the good and the blest. 
My home was in the hells : but they were hells not entirely 
devoid of an inferior kind of pleasure. . . . 

Long, weary years rolled away before I made any perceptible 
progress. I cannot say that I absolutely retrogressed ; and 
yet, quite possibly, I did in some directions, if not as a whole. 
But be this as it may, remorse would often sting me. I did 
not find complete rest. The diviner aspirations of my soul 
would occasionally turn toward the higher and the better. 
This condition, I think, nearly corresponds to what one of 
your seers — Swedenborg — called life in the hells. Some in 
states lower than mine 'had suffered intense anguish for long 
periods. They were willful in their blindness. Their environ- 
ments — dark wastes, barren fields, dismal swamps, gloomy 
dens, and caves of horror — accorded fully with their inter- 
nal desires and motives. 

It is needless to inform you that I was a long time in the 



EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE HELLS INTO HEAVEN. 89 

world of spirits, and earth-bound at that, before I entered the 
more beautiful spiritual world. In the transition to a higher 
state of happiness, I was aided more especially by my brother, 
the clergyman, who, when he was dying, laid his thin, pale 
hand upon my head and blessed me. As I before remarked, 
I was dissatisfied with my associates ; and while apart by my- 
self praying, I saw in the distance — so it seemed to me — a 
star. Reverently continuing- my soul aspirations, the star 
seemed to approach nearer, and still nearer, expanding till it 
actually enveloped me in a halo of brightness ; and out of 
this resplendent brightness came before me my brother ! It 
is impossible to express my feelings. His robes almost daz- 
zled me, but his voice was music itself, and his tender words 
melted me to tears of repentance. 

I begged permission to go to his home in the heavens at once. 
"No," he replied, gently, lovingly; "you can only come to 
our heavenly home when prepared ; but now that you have 
opened the way by prayer, and aspirations, for a higher life, I 
can come to you. Call for me, brother, for I still love you 
with all the warm gushing affections of my soul. Prayer 
pierces the portals of heaven, and invites the aid of the min- 
istering spirits of God." 

Just as my brother — a dear angel now — was about to 
withdraw from my presence, I assured him that I would for- 
ever leave all of my old associates and companions in dark- 
ness. 

" No," said he in tones sweet and tender, yet decidedly 
earnest; " that is not the way to reach the heavenly abode of 
the angels. Go directly to your old associates as a teacher ; 
tell them of your aims and aspirations ; tell them, in words of 
kindness and love, that you have seen your brother from the 
higher heavens. Plead tenderly with them to become pure 
and holy. Aid and encourage them. Help, O my brother, help 
them ! for in thus doing you will be helped ; and in blessing 
them you will be thrice blest. This is the Christ-spirit, the 
love-spirit that pervades our immortal homes." . 

Often from this onward did my brother come to me. And 



90 IMMORTALITY. 

thus aided and inspired by him and other noble teachers, I 
rapidly unfolded until my surroundings are now divinely 
beautiful, and I am permitted to minister to mortals. . . . 

Q. Does home life — do home associations extend beyond 
mortal life ? If so, are they real ? Has your home a name ? 

A. The home associations of earth extend just in the degree 
that they are harmonial. Erratic members of an earthly 
family coming into spirit-life, voluntarily separate, each seek- 
ing congenial groups and societies. The law of attraction is 
the governing principle. The family tie, the residence, the 
furniture, the paintings, and the surroundings, are just as real 
and substantial to us, and more so if possible, than yours are 
to you. 

I call my home " Pear-Grove Cottage." I was exceedingly 
fond of pears when upon earth, and this taste, refined and 
elevated in consonance with the law of development, con- 
tinues in a degree with me still. The garden reflects my con- 
ception of order, symmetry, and beauty. Gardeners cultivate 
it. They might be called servants, and yet they serve from 
choice. They are conscious of benefits from being in my 
society. And I, too, often learn from and serve them. The 
wisest ones among us are the most childlike. 

My residence would be unique and possibly painfully so to 
you. I have never seen an architectural structure on earth 
like it. It tends to the curvilinear ; it has no sharp angles, 
but many arching alcoves. Spirits do not construct buildings 
from spirit-substances by will-power alone. The will can do 
nothing only as it prompts to action, at least so far as my 
observation extends. Not only the human form as a whole, 
but each organ has its diviner uses with us. Mechanical skill 
and well-directed energies are requisite in the construction 
of machines, buildings, and towering temples. Our homes, 
gardens, and libraries, correspond largely to our mental states. 
I have planted a tree in my garden, and connected it with 
you magnetically. It may be compared to a kind of mirror, 
or rather a life-history, upon the leaves of which are regis- 



EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE HELLS INTO HEAVEN. 91 

terecl your daily deeds. This, though doubtless a mystery to 
you, is a fact to me. 

If I pluck a flower in my garden it withers, unless I will 
its freshness, and impart to it a life force prompted by my in- 
terior love of flowers. You doubtless understand that flowers 
on earth grow the best for those who love them most. They 
need sympathy as well as care. . . . 

I have seen homes in the higher heavens embowered in 
flowers and surrounded by velvety lawns ; I have seen wind- 
ing promenades, walks garnished with precious stones, foun- 
tains clear as crystal, and bowers of love where artists gather 
to display their penciled creations, poets to repeat their rhyth- 
mic lines of wisdom, and musicians to ravish the soul with the 
sweetest melodies of heaven. And then, to the contrary, I 
have seen in the lower spheres of darkness clusters, societies, 
and cities of moral degradation, in the streets of which unde- 
veloped spirits were engaged in disputations, quarrels, enmi- 
ties, and pitiful ravings. They delighted to annoy and torture 
each other — delighted to live, in a measure, their earthly 
lives over again, and to influence gamblers in their dens, ine- 
briates in their wretched retreats, and debauchees in their 
haunts of crime. These scenes make angels weep, and I 
mention them with sadness. And yet ihe same God is over 
all, the same influx of life sustains all, and there is hope 
for all in the future. 

Q. What are your employments ? 

A. My employments are teaching and being taught. I am 
never idle. Labor with me is a labor of love, and rest con- 
sists in a change from one kind of employment to another. 
I am constantly exploring new fields, forming new associa- 
tions, and toiling as best I may to instruct new-comers to 
spirit life, and impress the inhabitants of earth to walk in the 
higher ways of truth and wisdom. 

Q. You deal too much - — pardon me — in generalities. Be 
more pointed ; tell me of one scene 3^ou have observed — one 
act that you have done to-day as a spirit ? 

A. If it can be of real service to you and others, I will say 



92 IMMORTALITY. 

that only a few hours since I saw a lady, not long in spirit 
life, engaged in needle-work. She had her spirit fabric of 
delicate textnre, her spirit thread and needle. On earth she 
was a seamstress, excelling others. The finest stitch was her 
joy and pride there — it is her heaven now, and doubtless will 
be till she rises above the special tastes of earthly life. . . . 
Among other acts that I participated in to-day was the selec- 
tion of a spirit instructor to take in charge and become the 
immediate guardian of a man who, in one of your southern 
cities, w T as executed for the crime of murder. We made 
choice of a spirit occupying a sphere vastly superior to the 
criminal's — a spirit who had himself been a murderer, but 
who through fiery penalties, expiations, and repentance, had 
advanced to a place sufficiently high to entitle him to hold the 
guardian care over this unhappy spirit. From his own unfor- 
tunate earthly experiences, we deemed him admirably adapted, 
through the law of sympathy and charity, to act as this spir- 
it's instructor. 

Q. What about marriage, and the relation of the sexes in 
the world of immortality ? 

A. Often have I told you that this world is, almost to 
completeness, the counterpart of earth and its inhabitants, 
consequently social and domestic relations are very similar. 
Wedded bliss is numbered among the numerous joys that 
abound in the spiritual world. But marriages in the spheres 
are not based upon the ceremonial, nor are they for the pur- 
pose of procreation and selfish gratification, but rather for 
social interblendings and the quickening of the spiritual ac- 
tivities. The fervent wish, the glance of the eye, and the 
soft touch of the hand, give to conjugal souls a divine ecstasy 
— so they assure me. On earth I was called a bachelor, and 
I remain such yet, if by it is meant individualized singleness 
relative to connubial life. Still, I consider all things from 
minutest monads up to the most royal soul-angels to be dual ; 
and I believe men and women to be the two hemispheres of 
the sphere, and as positives and negatives, corresponding to 
wisdom and love, they were designed for sacred unions. If 



EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE HELLS INTO HEAVEN. 93 

these are based in selfishness, they necessarily terminate sooner 
or later; but if true and well fitted, the spiritual dominating 
when on earth, they continue on in our world of spirits. 
Ancient seers and sages, however, who have summered many 
thousand j^ears in the heavens, assure me that progressively- 
inclined spirits so unfold, so approximate the divine, that 
ultimately their loves become universal, the love of each flow- 
ing oat to all, as the sun shines upon all, and as God's life 
and love flow into all immortal intelligences. 

Q. Is life the result of organization ? 

A. Life is not the result of organization, but organization 
is the result of life ; all organisms are the result of life. All 
organized entities, whether spiritual or material, are secondary 
to the life-principle within them. Matter and spirit are co- 
existent and co-equal : one is the passive, the other the active 
principle in nature. But the God-principle is active to both, 
and the three constitute a trinity. 

Q. In the soul's pre-existent state, does it reason out — does 
it reason about the propriety and wisdom of being incarnated 
into an earthly body ? 

A. For myself only can I answer. I have no memory of 
a pre-existent state. If I pre-existed as a human soul in time 
and space, I have no knowledge of it ; therefore I do not 
know whether there was consciousness within the soul in this 
state of pre-existence or not, but the class of thinkers in 
spirit-life who believe in the soul's eternal past teach this : 
that in that infinite past the soul has been incarnated in ex- 
ternal form time and again, swinging like a pendulum from 
the innermost universe to the outermost, and conversely from 
the outermost to the innermost, which is the life divine. They 
teach that the human soul is a part of a connected series in 
nature, and as such, that it obeys the universal laws of move- 
ment, which, as we said, is a continuous vibration between 
the innermost and outermost, or the subjective and objective 
poles of universal nature. Whether this be so or not, I have 
no conscious knowledge. Still, I accept and believe the teach- 
ings of those ancients upon this subject. Unless we postulate 



94 IMMORTALITY. 

the soul's pre-existence, then, according to the laws of thought, 
the argument for the soul's immortality would be materially 
weakened. 

Q. Will all pre-existent spirits ultimately be incarnated 
into earthly bodies for experience ? 

A. This school of thinkers that I spoke of teach that all 
human souls pass through these movements. We might also 
presume as much, since there is nothing in nature which 
stands still. Inertia is death ; activity is life and unfoldment. 

Q. Did the souls of animals pre-exist, and if so, why should 
they not have a past existence?* 

A. The higher class of philosophers in spirit-life teach that 
they did not ; that in the purely animal life of this and other 
planets there are nothing but rudimental conditions and struc- 
tures, which eventually form a basis for the reception of the 
human soul. Animals are the green fruit of the planet, never 
ripened, and which drop from the stem of life's tree before 
maturity is attained. Their forms are imperfect, and imper- 
fection implies destruction. 

Q. Spirits generally unite in saying that there are birds 
and animals in spirit-life ; what are your reasons for teaching 
that they are not individualized? 

A. I likewise agree with spirits that there are birds, 
beasts, and insects in the spirit-life, but they do not possess 
the souls of those that existed in earth-life. There are rocks, 
trees, and flowers in spirit-land, but they are not the spirits 
of their concrete correspondence on earth, but they are pro- 
ductions resulting from the action of laws pertaining to the 
spirit-life. In consequence of imperfect organizations, ani- 
mals do not survive the dissolution of their material bodies. 

In spirit-life the three kingdoms in nature exist much as 
they do in your material world, and they are the outcome of 
the same original course. The phenomena of crystallization, 
of vegetable growth and animal production, are displayed here 
much after the same manner they are on earth, though upon 
a higher plane. 

Q. Does not this involve a loss of individuality? 






EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE HELLS INTO HEAVEN. 95 

A. There is a loss of the individuality in one sense perhaps, 
but no loss of the force that constituted the individual. All 
these forces are available for assimilation into higher forms of 
life in consequence of having been used in the lower forms. 

Q. How do the fruits, flowers, and general surroundings 
correspond to those on earth ? 

A. There is a correspondence, but a higher degree of de- 
velopment, as this is a higher sphere. We have not only 
types of life similar to those represented on earth, but there 
is an almost illimitable variety of forms unknown in the earth- 
life, because a greater variety of conditions exists in the spirit- 
world, and the law of evolution has a much wider range. 

Q. Are plants and animals carried through solid walls into 
our buildings ? 

A. It is impossible to give you an understanding of the law, 
because it involves the chemistry of unparticled substances 
that constitute the spiritual universe. The spiritual always 
dominates the material, and the chemistry of the spiritual 
is entirely superior to the chemistry of the material. There- 
fore when the chemical potencies and forces of spirit-life are 
used, they can overcome and set aside for a moment the 
chemical laws of physical substances. In the earth you have 
sixty or more primary elements, and their combinations con- 
stitute the chemical composition of the globe and all that is 
thereon. In spirit-life there are more than a thousand of 
these elementary forms of substance recognized in the chem- 
istry of the spirit, and their combinations are so intricate and 
far-reaching and beautiful that it requires years of study 
and the deepest penetration of thought to comprehend them. 
The phenomena of which you spoke can only be produced by 
chemists of a high order in spirit-life working through spirits 
of a lower order who have great physical power and nearness 
to earth, and by that means they may produce these results. 
It is impossible to explain to you the method, because you 
have no analogous experiences. The phenomena known in 
your chemistry as endosmose and exosmose come nearer to 
this than any phenomenon in physical science. 



yb IMMORTALITY. 

Q. If flowers, birds, &c, are taken from persons in earth- 
life and brought to spirit seances, is it not a sort of theft ? 

A. In all cases care is observed to take only such things as 
will be no material loss to. others. Flowers bloom by the 
wayside, and in your winter time the tropics abound in buds 
and blossoms. 

Q. Are perverse and wicked spirits ever arbitrarily chained 
or confined for a season ? 

A. They certainly are, and especially so in the lower 
spheres. And then they occasionally break away from their 
surroundings, to follow, haunt, and obsess mortals, sometimes 
producing sickness and even death. Spirits have the power 
to heal and the power to make ill. All power reduced or 
traced to its original source is spirit-power. Low and wicked 
spirits, as you term them, are frequently guarded by the 
strong magnetic will of persons in spirit-life superior to them, 
to prevent their doing wrong to others. Human beings are 
coming to us continually from the earth-life so freighted with 
revenge, hatred, malice, and all the bitter passions of human- 
ity, that it is absolutely necessary, on the part of the higher 
intelligences, to arbitrarily restrain them, because they are 
totally inexperienced, and in and of themselves not capable 
of guiding their actions to any good result. 

Q. Why are spirits so averse to giving their earthly histo- 
ries, with few exceptions ? 

A. Many persons in spirit-life, when they look back upon 
their earthly existence, see in it so much that is weak and 
childish, if not positively revolting, that they do not desire 
others to look upon it. It is a painful subject to them. But 
the time comes to all human souls when it is necessary for 
them to unveil all their earth-life to the clear sunlight of the 
spirit-world about them, for by so doing they put themselves 
in accord with their surroundings. Unity cannot exist where 
there is deception, or hiding of any of the past conditions of 
life. 

Q. By what process of reasoning do spirits justify them- 
selves in coming to earth under false names ? 



EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE HELLS INTO HEAVEN. 97 

A. It is seldom that the higher class of spirits give their 
names, and the lower being ashamed of their earth-names and 
earthly life, are prone to assume the names of distinguished 
personages. Moreover, the fault frequently lies with the me- 
dium, who will readily consent to be controlled by a spirit 
assuming some great name, but who would utterly refuse to 
work for the same spirit should he assume his real name. 
There is that degree of self-love in some mediums that must 
be gratified in order to use them as instruments. It is the 
fault of the medium almost universally that these false names 
are assumed. But there is no justification for it at all. 

Q. Do you take any interest in the materialization of 
spirits ? 

A. I take interest in all classes of manifestations of spirits 
to mortals, but the more advanced in spirit-life are gradually 
withdrawing from materializing phenomena, from the fact that 
they have been usurped by a lower class of spirits, many times 
controlling and permitting their mediums to present their own 
faces, hands, and persons under the guise of materialized spir- 
its. But there is a higher law of materialization that has as 
yet been illustrated in few instances. It is where those grand 
souls in angel life draw about themselves with the greatest 
intensity the physical conditions of your atmosphere so as to 
make themselves visible and tangible to mortal senses. It is 
only within the power of very few persons in the higher life 
to use this law ; but as the world ripens, and the conditions of 
the planet become more ethereally balanced, the exhibition 
of this higher power of materialization will become more fre- 
quent, until ultimately there will be complete materializations 
whenever any important use can be thereby subserved. 

Q. Is not a broad, liberal Christian Spiritualism acceptable 
to the eyes of higher spirits and angels ? 

A. From my understanding of the word Christian, I would 
approve of it; but if the word imports a sectarian, arbitrary 
Spiritualism, I would not. As there is great danger of its 
being so construed, it would be better to leave all names save 
the one, Spiritualism. A broad and liberal Spiritualism is 
1 



98 IMMORTALITY. 

acceptable to the highest angels in the spirit-world, but they 
do not desire that there should be any creed attached to the 
universal, such as Spiritualism is. Christian is a sect-name, 
indicating only one department of human effort in the religious 
life, and one that is particularly marked by the assumption 
that it is the only saving one ; therefore it is not best to 
trammel the beautiful word Spiritualism with the shackles of 
a churchianic name. Although the Christ of the New Testa- 
ment is behind the spiritual movement of the present time, it 
is not meet that it should have the Christian title, because the 
celestial angels would have men come up to that breadth of 
thought where they can conceive of universal ideas of reli- 
gion applicable to all time, breathing through all space, bring- 
ing to every human being in God's universe the knowledge 
that the same laws of unitary life are everywhere operating. 

Q. Do you approve of this definition of Spiritualism, " To 
believe in God as the Infinite Spirit Presence of the Universe, 
to hold conscious communion with spirits and angels, and to 
live a true, noble, spiritual Christ-like life — these constitute 
a Spiritualist" ? 

A. I do. 

Q. Do you believe it possible for a medium to be disinte- 
grated or dematerialized in cabinets during seances ? 

A. I reply in the negative. I do not, however, claim to 
have all knowledge upon this subject. I have never seen a 
thinking, conscious human being dematerialized ; neither 'have 
I conversed with an intelligent spirit who has witnessed such 
a phenomenon. Absolute dematerialization would be death ; 
and after the disintegration of the particles and substances 
constituting the two bodies, with the severance of the silver 
cord, there could be, so it seems to me, no restoration. The 
spiritual man has fled, and could no more return to gather 
up, and live in the body again, than the freed bird could re- 
turn to and dwell once more in the crushed shell, or the oak 
return to its acorn life. This idea of mediumistic demateriali- 
zation may have been taught by designing spirits to cover the 
manifestations which they profess to produce. That flowers 



EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE HELLS INTO HEAVEN. 99 

are brought through walls is no violation of the known laws 
of vital chemistry. I do not speak dogmatically upon this 
subject, but simply refer to my personal observations and ex- 
periences. 

Q. Are spirits, invisible to the physical eye, photographed 
in art-galleries, as claimed by some ? 

A. They are, although only under certain circumstances; 
much of what is presented to the world coming from this di- 
rection is but the counterfeit of the genuine. One main argu- 
ment against this is that " that which is invisible cannot be 
photographed." This is the view of our own medium, and I 
am speaking now in opposition to his opinions, as, for illustra- 
tion, there are certain chemicals, certain gases that are unseen 
by the physical eye, yet are sufficiently tangible in their inter- 
vention between the rays of the sun as to produce an image. 
The chemical ray is invisible, but the particles of the atmos- 
phere are set in motion by it, and cast a shadow. ... If you 
dissolve sulphate of quinia in water, and write with this on 
a clean white sheet of paper, when it has dried you can see 
no trace of it, but if you place this before the camera it will 
appear plainly. There are two methods of spirit photography. 
In one the spirit stands before the camera, partially material- 
ized, enough so to affect and reflect the chemical ray, which 
is invisible to the human eye. The other method is where 
the spirit artist presents the picture directly upon the plate of 
the photographer without the spirit's presence, 

Q. In consequence of the impostures practiced in some 
seances, have not the higher spirits largely abandoned them ? 

A. They have for the time being. And yet through all 
this imperfection and fraud there will come an understanding 
of many of those occult laws which unite mortal life to spirit 
life. We urge you to study these phenomena carefully, and 
endeavor to eliminate as far as possible the fraudulent from 
the genuine, for by so doing you will not only ultimately at- 
tain to conditions where ancient spirits can materialize, but 
you can have phenomena or a subdued light of an order dif- 
ferent from anything that can be obtained in the light, and 



100 IMMORTALITY. 

exceedingly useful to those inclined to doubt the reality of 
spirit existence. A subdued light is almost indispensable for 
spirit friends who have recently left their mortal for their 
immortal homes. 

Q. Is there not great injury done, leading to obsessions and 
insanity, by the indiscriminate and promiscuous blendings of 
mediuinistic magnetisms ? 

A. I reply emphatically in the affirmative. It seems inci- 
dental to the present unfolding of mediumistic conditions 
that this should take place ; because mediums themselves do 
not understand, neither in many cases do the communicating 
spirits themselves comprehend, the laws involved in their own 
operations. Hence there is this ill-adapted and inharmonious 
mixing of mediumistic auras and conditions that often lead to 
deleterious results. These not only seriously affect the me- 
diums, but occasionally the spirits, who become magnetically 
chained to them. It sometimes happens that these spirits 
cannot break the connection that they have persistently estab- 
lished with their mediums. In such cases there should be a 
united effort between a circle of good, earnest magnetic mor- 
tals in earth life, and a similar band of spirits in spirit life, 
to aid these parties in severing the unwise sympathy so 
firmly established. Many are too fond of marvelous manifes- 
tations. They are given to wonder. Spirit communion is a 
means, not an end. Better far for mortals to culture and 
enrich their own spirits than to perpetually seek for strange 
and astounding marvels ! 

It should be borne in mind that a large proportion of the 
insane in the lunatic asylums are persons who are either ob- 
sessed by spirits, or sympathetically affected by the discordant 
conditions which are projected from the lower spheres of 
spirit-life upon the earth plane. Spiritual stances should be 
conducted in a quiet and orderly manner. They should be 
opened by invocations and prayers, and the end sought should 
be moral growth and divine use. 



THE BED MAN'S TESTIMONY. 101 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE RED MAN'S TESTIMONY. 

Powhattari s Spirit Home, through the Mediumship of 
Dr. E. C. Dunn. 

" Out spake the patriarch gray and old; 
The love of war in his heart was cold : 
' I heard in midnight's whispering hreeze, 
In the low murmuring of the trees, 
And in the war-bird's chastened ciy, 
A mighty voice from yonder sky : 
" Man lives but once," the Spirit said; 
" Pale Face is brother to the Red." * 
Bury the hatchet, 

Bury it low ; 
Under the greensward, 
Under the snow.' " 

I DO not know the origin of the Indian races. Pale-faced 
spirits do not think alike about it. Indian himself thinks 
that many millions of moons ago they lived in northern and 
eastern countries — what you call Asia. They came to this 
country on dry land. They found tribes and races here, and 
many wars followed. They had no books, as white men 
have, but they cut their histories on rocks, and retained them 
in legends. My ancestors, as you would call them, were 
more agricultural than hunting tribes. They raised corn and 
a kind of wild rice. The chief was the father of his tribe. 
He did not have many squaws. The pale-faced man does not 
tell the truth about this. He only took care of the old and 
the poor squaws. Each Indian owned the ground he culti- 
vated while cultivating it. When he stopped doing this, the 
land belonged to the tribe again. Some tribes burned their 
dead ; others put them up into trees, to be wasted by the 



102 IMMORTALITY. 

elements ; and others still buried them in a sitting position, 
with their blankets, shells, war-clubs, and corn to feed them, 
as they started for the heavenly hunting-grounds 

They had a sacred and secret language, known only to 
chiefs and medicine-men. Their history was largely in this 
language. The symbols of serpents, birds, insects, curves, 
angles, and hieroglyphical characters, are mere representa- 
tives of this language. Wars, in those ancient times, were 
very few, because war councils were arbitrations, and wise 
chiefs sought to avoid wars with other tribes 

Q. Powhattan, tell me what you are doing these days, and 
describe to me your spirit home ? 

A. Indian has not been visiting, has not been idle, has not 
been talking ; — pale-faces talk too much. I have been away 
toward the sunset, where the red man is on the war-path — 
have been there to counsel peace ; have been there to receive 
the spirits of red men killed by the pale-faces, and to keep 
them from returning to injure those who injured them. 

Q. Will not our armies in the West soon conquer all the 
Indian tribes ? 

A. Never! Indians are never conquered when they fight 
for the right — when they fight for their lands, for their 
homes, and for the graves of their fathers. No ; they will be 
exterminated, but conquered — never ! Indians are not 
afraid to die — they are not children — they do not whine 
when shot down by white men ; for they know they go to 
the hunting-grounds of their fathers. 

Q. Powhattan, describe your spirit home, the direction 
you take towards it when you leave the medium. If you 
cannot convey your ideas fully in our language, get the 
spirit Aaron Knight to assist you ; he is very kind, as you 
know. 

A. Knight spirit is here. Indians are the children of na- 
ture. They were guided on earth by the sun, moon, and 
stars. They were keen observers. The sun was to us a 
symbol of the Great Spirit. We follow the setting sun. 
The sun is the Indian ; the moon is the squaw ; the stars 



THE RED MAN'S TESTIMONY. 103 

are their children, and the fixed stars the warriors. We con- 
tinue to be Indians in the spirit world. We mingle with 
white spirits, and many of our blankets and robes are whiter 
than theirs. I was a chief on earth, and I took my hate of 
the white man with me to spirit life. I would not see him 
for a long, long time. But once I went with an old and 
brighter Indian spirit than I was, where there was a peace 
council, where there was white men in it ; one of these, Wil- 
liam Penn, in shining dress, and a sunshine face, came to me 
with a white plume in his hand. He said he loved the Indian, 
and he put his lips on my forehead. I turned round and 
wept, for I was too proud to have him see my tears. I loved 
this white spirit — he made my heart soft. I love all the 
pale-faced spirits now, and that is why I come to do them 
good. 

When I leave this medium, I go westward, up, and away 
in the distance, to my spirit home. I am a chief there now, 
but the Indians stay with me because they love me, and like 
my counsels to them. In our spirit world there is one chief — 
the Great Spirit Chief over all. We do not see him, but we 
feel him. . . . 

But you ask about my spirit home, and the way I go to get 
there. I go almost as quick as 'you think — and go first to a 
big forest of stately trees, the homes of beavers and squirrels 
and birds. In this forest, with its open spots here and there, 
herds of buffaloes, flocks of deer, elks, and light-footed gazelles 
sport without being interrupted by bush or prickly bramble. 
The silky grass that grows beneath the branches, ever green 
and nutritious, feeds the game that roams the forest. Deep- 
flowing streams of water, rolling through woodlands, bound- 
ing over precipices, leaping down dizz} 7 heights, and dashing 
on rocks below, are broken into spray that, rising on the 
balmy air, and floating like perpetual showers, keep fresh and 
green the leaves and grasses and flowers, that grow in the 
forest wilds of the red man's home. 

Upon a mossy bank, near the shore of Ciystal River, and 
in full view of an ever murmuring waterfall, stands the 



104 IMMORTALITY. 

wigwam of Powhattan. The background is built up of tow- 
ering mountains, dotted with springs and rills and majestic 
trees, the waving branches of which make music in the In- 
dian's home. His wigwam, cone-shaped, and made of sub- 
stances corresponding to furs, is constructed around a mon- 
ster oak. His carpet, in appearance, is made of the skins of 
birds of golden plumage. His bed, for repose and reflection, is 
of softest down. His weapons of warfare hang upon the wig- 
wam's outer side, as relics of the almost forgotten past. His 
books are the trees, the mountains, and the sailing clouds. 
His council-fires are the fires of peace, and they burn perpet- 
ually upon the altar of his soul. The incense that arises 
therefrom is love to the Great Spirit, and love to all the tribes 
and races of humanity. The deer and the wild game that 
were once hib "nrey, are now his companions and his friends. 
The war-paint was long ago washed away from his calm sun- 
lit face. His crimson war-feathers were changed to plumes 
of crystal whiteness. His flexible bow was unstrung, and the 
untamed, untutored Indian of the forest, no longer a savage, 
has become a lover of humanity, and a trustworthy healer 
and teacher in earth and spirit life. 

Nellie, a little Indian GrirVs Quaint Description of her Home 
and Employments, through the Mediumship of Mrs. Jennie S. 
Rudd. 

I'm glad to come and talk to a preaching man with silver 
tongue. I shall meet you when you come up top, and will 
help cover your chair with pretty flowers. All the good 
things you say and do send up material for us to use. Some- 
times when you speak, such big spirits come that thej scare 
me and almost cover me up. I came up to this top- world 
when I was four years old. I can't remember much that 
happened just after I was dead, but I know that I talked to 
my mother, and she would not answer me. Everything 
looked so strange. I saw a little girl lying on the big mat 
that looked like me ; but she would not speak nor move, and 
I did not understand why they stood and cried over her, and 



THE RED MAN'S TESTIMONY. 105 

called her Nellie ; and then I cried, and kept crying till a 
beautiful lady came, and taking me in her white arms through 
the clouds, we came to a nice garden where lots of little chil- 
dren were playing. Among these happy children was one 
lady dressed in pure white. They said her name was Jose- 
phine ; and she wore a crown in your world, which up here 
she called a cross. She was trying, they told me, to throw it 
off by doing good to everybody. She taught the children to 
sing : 

" If the crown you would wear, the cross you must bear." 

But crowns up here don't mean what your queens wear, but 
crowns of virtue and love. Everything was pretty here, but 
I did not feel happy till grandpa came. He took me in his 
arms and bore me to a lovely garden, which had a beautiful 
house in it, filled with flowers, books, statues, and everything 
to please children. There was music here, too ; and some of 
the great spirits came and looked at my face and head, and 
said I had the mark of the messenger. I have since learned 
that they were examining me and consulting what mission I 
was best designed to fulfil. They brought me to this lady 
medium, taught me how to put my mind upon her and con- 
trol her ; and ever since I have been the spirit-messenger for 
her band. 

I've only been up in this top-world a few years. I live in 
a pleasant house, which mamma calls " Fairview." Other 
spirits call it " Mount Peaceful." I did not make the house, and 
nobody builds them here as you do in your world. They tell 
me that good deeds form the building materials ; but I cannot 
understand that. Little delicate vines creep all over the 
house that I live in. The room that I like best opens on to 
the fawn, which slopes down towards the lake. Near the 
lake is a bubbling fountain. It looks like a big tulip, with a 
big bird in the center ; and though the water covers the bird, 
it shines just as bright as the sun. We Indians call this lake 
Wa-te-ma, and it means truth. We sail on this lake, and 
the fish come up to our hands and let us pet them. . . . They 
call me the messenger girl, and my work is to take spirits 



106 IMMORTALITY. 

from the earth, and sometimes return with them when they 
can't find the way. I carry messages from the medium's 
band of spirits to other spirits. I have been with great 
spirits to the spirits in prison, and I tried to carry them sun- 
shine and light; and I told them how bright it was where I 
lived; and I've tried to help them come up and see our lake 
and flowers and the blue skies. I can tell the bad spirits by 
the dark light around them. Do 3^ou know, Papa Peebles, 
that there's no darkness in my country ? It is more like the 
soft bright moonlight than like your sun. We have our times 
of rest, but we keep thinking while we're resting. On our 
trees there are fruits ripe and unripe at the same time, and 
the flowers that bloom do not die as yours do. I can't ex- 
plain things to you as I want to. All the big Indians love 
you, papa, very much, because you talk good words about 
them, and call them your "red brothers." One tall Indian 
spirit, wearing a shining blanket, is now by you ; he says he 
long ago washed the war-paint off from his face, broke his 
arrows, unstrung his bow, and put white feathers in his hair. 
He is a peace Indian, and when he is not with you to keep 
you well and strong, he is with the Indians and the white 
men, -away off towards the sun-set, trying to make thern love 
one another and be happy. But I must go. When you come 
up top, I will have on my best shining blankets and be there 
to meet you. 

Coacoochee, and his Description of his Spirit Sister's Appearance. 

" My sister died suddenly. I was on a bear hunt, and seated by my camp-fire alone. 
I heard a strange noise. It was something like a voice which told me to go to her. 
The camp was some distance, but I took my rifle and started. The night was dark 
and gloomy. The wolves howled around me as I went from hammock to hammock. 
Sounds often came to my ear ; I thought she was speaking to me. At daylight I 
reached her camp ; she was dead. 

" When hunting some time after with my brother Otulkee, I sat alone by the side of 
a large oak. In the moss hanging over me I heard strange sounds. I tried to sleep, 
but could not. I felt myself moving, and thought I went far above to a new country, 
where all was bright and happy. I saw clear water, ponds, rivers, and prairies, on 
which the sun never sets. All was green ; the grass grew high, and the deer stood in 
the midst of it looking at me. I then saw a small white cloud approaching, and 
when just before me, out of it came my twin sister, dressed in white, and covered 
with bright silver ornaments. Her black hair, which I had often braided, hung clown 



THE RED MAN'S TESTIMONY. 107 

her back. She clasped me around the neck and said, ' Coacoochee, Coacoochee.' I 
shook with fear. I knew her voice, but could not speak. With one hand she gave 
me a string of white beads; in the other she held a cup sparkling with pure water, 
which she said came from the spring of the Great Spirit, and if I would drink from it, 
I should return and live with her for ever. 

" As I drank she sang the peace song of the Seminoles and danced around me. She 
had silver bells on her feet, which made a loud noise. Taking from her bosom some- 
thing, I know not what, she laid it before me, when a bright light streamed far above 
us. She then took me by the hand and said, " All is peace." I wanted to ask for 
others, but she shook her head, moved her hand, stepped into the cloud, and was gone ! 
The fire she had made had not gone out. All was silent. I was sorry that I could not 
have said more to her. I felt myself sinking until I came to the earth, where I met 
my brother Otulkee. He had been seeking me, and was alarmed at my absence; hav- 
ing found my rifle where he last saw me asleep. I told him where I had been, and 
showed him the beads. These beads were stolen from me when I was in prison- at 
St. Augustine. At certain periods of the moon, when I had these beads, I could see 
the spirit of my sister. I may be buried in the earth, or sunk in the water, but I shall 
go to her and live with her. Game is abundant there, and there the white man is 
never seen.. . . . 

" I did not love the white man when in my body. He was my enemy. He wanted 
our lands. He deceived us. He killed our pappooses, and ploughed up the graves of 
our fathers. I never wanted to see him in the hunting-grounds of the Great Spirit, 
where my sister had gone, and where I am going. But I've changed my mind now — 
all white men were not like the pale-faces that made war upon the Seminoles. There 
were some good white men. I have met them in my spirit home. I have taken them 
into my canoe, and borne them over the lakes ; and I have come back with them to 
the earth to help them control and do good to the white men. I love them now, and 
try to forget all the wrongs they did to us. I've met my sister. Her blankets are 
shining as gold, and her rings and her shells are as bright as the sun. I am a messen- 
ger now, and am happy in doing good to everybody." 

Materialization of Indian Spirits : A Communication from 
Q. T. Sproat, a Shaker. 

" Ke-che Be-zhe-kee, or Big Buffalo, as he was called by the Americans, was at that 
time chief of that band of Ojibway Indians who dwelt on the southwest shores of Lake 
Superior, and were best known by the name of the ' Lake Indians.' He was wise and 
sagacious in council, a great orator, and was much reverenced by the Indians for his 
supposed intercourse with the Man-i-toes, or spirits, from whom they believed he de- 
rived much of his eloquence and wisdom in governing the affairs of the tribe. 

" In the summer of 1836, his only son, a young man of rare promise, suddenly sick- 
ened and died. The old chief was almost inconsolable for his loss, and, as a token of 
his affection for his son, had him dressed and laid in the grave in the same military 
coat, together with the sword and epaulets, which he had received a few months before 
as a present from the Great Father at Washington. He also had placed beside him his 
favorite dog, to be his companion on his journey to the land of souls. 

" One morning, a few months after his death, the old chief came to my wigwam, his 
step light and elastic like a child's, his form erect, and his face lighted up as if he had 
just received some new and joyful intelligence. 

" ' I have seen him,' he said ; ' I have seen him whom we mourned as dead ! I have 
seen him, and he is still alive ! ' ' Seen him ! when ? ' I asked. ' Yesterday, in the Me- 
ta-wa (sacred dance). We were all assembled together in the great dancing-lodge of 



108 IMMORTALITY. 

the chiefs, to worship hefore the Great Spirit, and On-wi came there and joined us.' 
' What ! in your dance hefore the Great Spirit ? Did you speak to him ? ' ' We did ; and 
he spoke to us.' ' What did he say ? ' 'He said it was weakness for us to mourn for 
him. He had gone to the happy hunting-grounds, far better than these on the cold 
shores of the lake. He mentioned some of those whom he had seen, particularly Man- 
i-bo-zho and Ah-ke-wain-ze, who had welcomed him there.' 'Did he join with you in 
the dance ? ' ' He did. We all danced before the Great Spirit. On-wi danced with us. 
His step was light as a fawn's ; his face was bright as the sky overhead. I wish you could 
have seen him. It made our hearts glad and joyful as the birds in spring.- After the 
dance we all sat down and smoked the pipe of peace together.' ' But how do you know 
it was On-wi whom you saw ? May it not have been some one of the tribe who coun- 
terfeited him, with his face painted, with the sacred emblems which you wear in the 
dance ? ' ' Did I not mark his form, his features, his every look ? Was he not dressed 
in the very coat I gave him, a present from the Great Father at Washington ? Who 
else in all the tribe has a coat like that ? How then could I be deceived ? ' ' And you 
— every one of you — saw him ? ' ' Every one of us. Ask the aged men, and they will 
tell you. The wisest men of the tribe were there. Could they, too, be deceived ? 
Have they got eyes, and do not see straight forward ? Have they got ears, and do not 
hear what is spoken to them ? Ask them, and they will tell you the truth. Their 
tongues are not hung in the middle, speaking lies at both ends, like the pale-faces. 
The toes of their feet do not turn outward, so that they walk two ways at once, like 
them. They keep straight forward in the path. Ask them, and they will tell you the 
truth.' 

" I did ask them, and heard from them the same report brought to me by the old 
chief concerning his son. For many days it was the theme of conversation in every 
wigwam of the camp. The old men spoke of it in an undertone, with their heads 
bowed as if in reverence ; and one day, while walking through the camp, I saw Wah- 
chus-co, the great seer of the tribe, standing amidst a group of earnest listeners, and, 
with a great burst of eloquence, telling them how Ke-che Man-i-to made the two 
worlds round, like the sun, for so the spirits had 'taught him; and taking a piece of 
birch bark, and drawing on it two spheres touching each other, he pictured to them 
whole bands of joyous spirits passing from one to the other, thus bringing together the 
inhabitants of the seen and unseen worlds." 

" Here bring the last gifts ! and with these 
The last lament be said ; 
Let all that please and yet may please 
Be buried with the dead. 

The paint that warriors love to use, 

Place here within his hand, 
That he may shine with ruddy hues 

Amid the spirit land." 



EVIL SPIRITS, THEIR PLANS, DOINGS, AND DESTINIES. 109 



CHAPTER XIII. 

EVIL SPIRITS, THEIR PLANS, THEIR DOINGS, AND THEIR 
DESTINIES. 

" For they are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings 
of the earth." Rev. xvi. 14. 

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God." 

John's Epistle. 

" I have been permitted to look into the Hells and see what kind of places they are. 
Some appear like holes in rocks ; others, like coverts of wild beasts in woods ; and 
others, like vaulted caverns and hidden chambers, such as are seen in mines. In some 
Hells there appear rude cottages, which in some places form lanes and streets. With- 
in the houses infernal spirits engage in perpetual brawls, in blows, and butchery, while 
the streets are infested with robbers. . . . Tbe Hells abound in foul smells, cadaverous, 
stercoraceous, noxious, and putrid, in which evil spirits dwell, as do some animals, in 
rank odors. Several times I have been let down into Hell, that I might witness the 
torment there. For my safety I was, as it were, surrounded by a column of Angelic 
Spirits, which I perceived as a wall of brass. Whilst there, I heard miserable lam- 
entations ; they were in a state of despair, saying they believed their torments would 
be for ever. It was granted me to comfort them." Swedenborg. 

Stripped of staff and scrip, relieved of all externals, we 
enter the future state of existence the real men and women 
we are, bearing with us the plans, purposes, achievements, 
and deeds done as records. Dropping the earthly garment 
does not change moral character. Sin is deeper than the epi- 
dermis. A night's sleep does not transform the sinful into 
angels, nor does a walk through a college make a philosopher 
of a boor. 

William Denton wisely said : " The miser returns cursing 
the fatal appetite which binds him in the metallic chain forged 
by his own avarice ; the sensualist lives in the agonizing re- 
trospect of lost delights, for which the nature of spiritual 
existence furnishes no satisfaction." 



110 IMMORTALITY. 

A. J. Davis, in his " Diakka," admits that there are spirits 
" morally deficient and affectionally unclean ; " that their chief 
business in this world is " jugglery and trickery, witicisms, 
invariably victimizing others ; secretly tormenting mediums, 
causing them to exaggerate in speech and to falsify by acts ; 
unlocking and unbolting the street-doors of your bosom and 
memory, pointing your feet into wrong paths, and far more." 

It is not to be denied that a few spiritualists — and their 
numbers are growing fewer, and their shadows less — con- 
tend that no evil extends beyond this life, thus making 
death a sieve, sifting out all gross substances, and virtually 
transforming depravity into purity in the twinkling of an eye. 
The idea is more pleasant than truthful. If there are evil- 
minded men, living and dying such, there must necessarily be 
evil-minded spirits. 

Facts, as related to mediumship, prove the existence of evil 
spirits. The logic of the matter stands thus : Good presup- 
poses evil as the affirmative does the negative, as the thesis 
does the antithesis. And evil is the direct opposite of good, 
apostasy from it, and deserves disciplinary punishment. . . . 
A band of brigands organize, elect a head officer — a king — 
as in the mountain fastnesses of Greece, Italy, or Spain. This 
becomes a kingdom of evil, diffusing a deleterious moral ma- 
laria. And so are there similar kingdoms and principalities 
in the spirit-world. The mediumistic Paul referred to these 
when he wrote : " For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers 
of the darkness of this world, and against wicked spirits in 
high places." 

The late William Howitt, after referring to the experiences 
of the spirit Hornung in these words : 

" ' I am still living in total dai-kness, and never see any light except when I am al- 
lowed to come to you, and on my journey catch glimpses of the sunny light of happier 
regions, and hear the voices and songs of their happier inhabitants.' She confessed 
that she was the spirit of a lady of notorious life and character, formerly well known 
at Vienna, and was then suffering the necessary consequences of her self-induced moral 
degradation,"— says : " We ourselves * had various unhappy spirits who presented them- 

* William Howitt, it is well known, was a drawing and writing medium. 



EVIL SPIRITS, THEIR PLANS, DOINGS, AND DESTINIES. Ill 

selves at our domestic seances some years ago, who declared that they were living in a 
region of darkness, desolation, and loneliness. They uniformly declined to reveal 
their names, adding that they were wholly unknown to us. We asked them what in- 
duced them to come to us; and they often replied that they chanced to be passing, 
saw a light, and came in, curious to see what was doing. Sometimes these spirits were 
possessed of an 'idea that they had irrevocably by their crimes lost the favor of God, 
and it was most difficult to induce them to think otherwise ; though we reminded them 
of the parable of the Prodigal Son, and of the assurance of Jesus Christ that whoever 
came to Him He would in no wise cast out. Sometimes they refused to be prayed for, 
saying that it was of no use, and that in fact, wretched as they were, they did not wish 
to change. Others, however, professed to feel better for our sympathy and counsels, 
and came again and again, declaring themselves progressively happier. 

" On one of the last of these occasions, whilst in England, a spirit unknown, and 
declining to give his name, said that he would relate to us his first experience in the 
spirit-world. He said that he found himself with a number of others in utter dark- 
ness, cold, hungry, and most miserable. In endeavoring to advance, he and his com- 
panions found their progress obstructed by a massive and lofty wall. They felt along 
it, to discover some door or passage through it, but could find none, though they con- 
tinued their search to a great distance. At length, in despair, they shouted to make 
some one hear them, but for a long time received no answer but a dreary and hollow 
echo. All else was silent, dead, a vacancy, and most terrible negation. They then 
burst into cries of desperation and despair, when at length a voice demanded who they 
were and what they wanted. They replied that they were newly-disembodied spirits, 
who were perishing with cold, starvation, and nakedness. The response was, ' You 
lived selfish lives — lived for yourselves. You felt no thankfulness to God, nor did 
you cherish in your hearts true love for your fellow-men. As you were an adamantine 
wall to humanity, an adamantine wall now rises inexorably before you, cutting off all 
admission to more favorable regions.' 

" This terrible announcement struck them down like dead men. They bewailed 
themselves bitterly, and cried for mercy and pardon, when at length a voice ex- 
claimed, ' Arise,' and a strong hand was put forth from the darkness, and the appar- 
ently impassable wall gave way to that mighty hand, and they found themselves in a 
dusky, and, as it were, Cimmerian meadow, where friendly beings clothed and fed 
them, and told them that now they were on the open highway of the great pilgrimage 
of eternity, and must advance, grow purer, and enjoy according to their own exer- 
tions, to the obedience to their spiritual guides, to the prayerful love they exercised 
toward the great Father, to the law of Christ, and to the love of the neighbor." 

The Rev. F. R. Young, minister of the Free Christian 
Church, Swindon, England, observes : 

" On Monday afternoon, December 23d, 1872, 1 was reading the Standard report of 
Mr. Gladstone's speech, delivered at Livex'pool on the previous Saturday, and comment- 
ing upon portions of it in the presence of two members of my family circle, Mrs. 
Wreford and her daughter. Suddenly, and while in the act of making my comments, 
I began to feel extremely faint from what I thought to be the heat of the room, and 
desired that the window might be opened for the ingress of fresh air. I also went 
from the fireplace to the open window, hoping that in a few minutes the feeling of 
faintness might pass away. Very shortly after this change I was entranced, and slid 
off the chair pn to the floor, in a kneeling position, and then began to crawl on hands 
and knees, very slowly, groping about like a person might who was in the dark and 
trying to find his way through it. While in this position, and watched eagerly by 



11 2 IMMORTALITY. 

those present, a spirit began to utter through me certain lines of verse, which were 
taken down in short-hand at the time. ' Suiting,' as Shakspeare says, ' the action to 
the word and the word to the action,' the spirit began as follows, every word being 
illustrated by the movements my body made : 

1 1 wander on — I wander far, 
No light of sun — no blink of star; 
I wander on — no voice I hear, 
No word to guide, but all is drear ; 
I wander on, 'mid darkness deep, 
No hand to touch, no rest, no sleep. 

heart, so foul and full of sin : 
Without — without — and not within ! 

1 might have been " within " the gate, 
But scoffed and scowled, till all too late ; 
I heard a voice, a voice for years, 

I turned away — no hope appears ; 

I wander on, — where shall I go ? 

I say " this way," — a voice says " No ! " 

I wander on — I cry with pain, 

I ne'er shall hear that voice again, 

The voice of pity, power, and love, 

The voice on earth of God above. 

I wander on, and stumble — fall : 

And all is gone, for ever — all : 

sisters, brothers, in the land below, 
If I could tell you all I know ; 

'Tis bitter pain, 'tis cruel smart, 
How can I cleanse you, filthy heart ? 

1 can not wander — I must stay, 
And wait the beams of brighter day. 



Perhaps some angel hears my word, 

And may be sent here by its Lord 

To pick up me, to guide my feet, 

And bring my wandering steps to meet,' &c. 

" At this point I think the spirit's own mention of the word ' Angel,' must have sug- 
gested to her mind the fact that she had at some time in the past been herself called 
an ' Angel,' and the contrast between the real angelic character and her own was at 
once felt to be so striking that she burst out into the following disclaimer : 

" ' An angel ? no, a woman fell, 
Who dragged her dupes the roafcl to hell, 
With words all bland, with smiles and tears, 
With laughter, shouts ; with hopes and fears ; 
They paid me well — they did their deed — 
They paid on garbage foul to feed : 
I know it now — I see it all ; 
And here I am, no voice to call, — 
No voice to say, " Reach forth thy hand, 
A guide is here to Spirit-land ! " 
I wander on — all dark and foul, 






EVIL SPIEITS, THEIR PLANS, DOINGS, AND DESTINIES. 113 

Begrimed — a hated, spotted soul: 
The sin was mine and only mine : 
I died and gave the world no sign ; 
I died, to live — I lived to know 
The meaning of a spirit's woe.' 



" I myself saw no vision ; nor was I aware, until I had come out of the trance, of 
what had transpired, and then only by being told. My friends saw and heard me, 
and me only; but under abnormal conditions such as, generally speaking, they had 
seen over and over again, on previous occasions. The facts, as I apprehend them, 
were that a spirit spoke through me, using my organs." 



" The momentous lesson here taught is, that, beyond all possibility of cavil, the 
eternal order reigns supreme in all worlds, — that compensation cannot be escaped ; 
that ' Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap ; ' that not what we have, or 
where we are, is the great matter, but what we are ; and that however < case-hardened ' 
a spirit may be on this side of the 'border-land,' the time must come, sooner or later, 
when that spirit will realize its own condition, and its own surroundings." 

John Jacob Aster's Lament, through the Mediumship of the late 

Mrs. Conant. 

" Gold is one of the strongest ties which binds men to earth ! and if I were on earth 
again, I would not be the owner of gold. I would rather take the chance of the beggar 
than that of the rich man. I would rather be cradled in sorrow on earth, for then I 
should better appreciate the joys of heaven. And as all men sin, so all men must be 
punished ; and I had rather receive my punishment on earth than in the land where 
we all hope for happiness. Yes, yes, I would rather be a Lazarus, — much rather; 
and could I be again transported to earth, could I again animate a material form, I 
would pray that God would give me the surroundings of a Lazarus, rather than the 
surroundings of a rich man. "When the rich man finds death at his door, he fears to 
leave his real happiness for the imaginary — for that he knows nothing of; but when 
the poor man dies, he says, ' I have nothing here to bind me ; my chance is equally 
good in the Land of Spirits.' A few years ago I walked upon earth ; I animated a form , 
like yours. I handled much gold and silver, and coming in contact with the same — 
a hard material substance — it served only to harden my nature, and fix a partition 
between me and my God. Now I am standing upon a barren waste, unclad, and I 
hear the passer-by exclaiming, ' You had your good things on earth — now you must 
have your evil things ! ' It is well, and I will be content. 

" All things that went to make up my sum of happiness on earth are denied me in 
heaven ; and although I dwell in heaven, I partake not of its glories, for each individ- 
ual forms his own heaven or his hell. Heaven may be within me, above me, 
around me, and yet not of me. I may not be happy, although others may be happy 
around me. How long I am to remain so, I know not. I know, however, that He 
who judges righteously will not judge me harshly. All I know is, I had wealth on 
earth, and that I would rather have had it in heaven, than where I am known no 
more. I am visited by those who bore earthly relation to me, ay, by those who were 
poor on earth, and now they are rich ; I find them clad in heaven's own glorious habil- 
iments ; they seek to encourage me, they strive to aid me ; they tell me my suffering 
will ultimately end, and bid me be of good cheer ; while I sit and murmur, they are 
praising God. Oh, sad, unhappy fate ! when shall I find Him whom I so much wish 
to see ? — Him, the God of the rich man and the poor ? When shall I dwell in that 

8 



114 IMMORTAXITY. 

happy circle in which He dwells ? Man's time on earth is fleeting as a mid-summer's 
day — fleeting — fast moving away; but man's spirit-existence is eternal. "Who 
would not rather stand in earth on the plane of poverty, than stand on the rich man's 
eminence ? Who, of all those who have passed on to know of better things, to take his 
share, would return to earth ? Not one, not one ! 

"I say the rich, dwelling here on earth, have hearts like adamant — gold renders 
them so. Oh, then, ye rich men of earth, scatter your gold to the four winds of 
heaven, if ye would be happy hereafter. It is hard for a rich man to enter the king- 
dom of heaven — I know it. I laid up my treasures on earth; the moth came, the rust 
corrupted, the thieves broke through and stole, and I am poor in the Spirit-world $ 
corrupted are my treasures in heaven ! Oh, I would to God I had never made the 
acquaintance of gold. Months ago I was told that it would benefit me to come to 
earth ; but my spirit loathed earth and its inhabitants, for there commenced my un- 
happiness ; there was sown the seed which now is a tree of evil, covering me with its 
deadly shade ; and I did not wish to return, for it was a cross too heavy for me to bear 
up the hill — a thorn too sharp for me to cast into my soul. But now I am happy I 
have come — it is one cross taken up. Oh, I would to God they were all laid upon 
my shoulder, for I think now I could bear them well. 

"Oh, I see glimmering in the distance a most beautiful star! — can it be she Avho 
passed on in infancy ? They tell me it is so. Oh ! why do they come to torment me 
— to show their light, while I have none ? Oh, He who judges rightly will do well. 
Let them come; mayhap I shall be able to follow them where they lead; mayhap my 
hell is ended! Yes, yes, the angel before me passed from my sight in infancy — ere 
the shadows of earth fell upon her spirit, ere the cold winds of earth blew upon it, 
she was called for, and now she comes with purity, with words of hope to cheer me on. 
It is well. I am told, in taking up this cross, I shall pass the gulf which separates us; 
I am told my cup of sorrow has filled, and pleasure is to come. Oh, may I have 
enough to scatter among the children of earth ! Oh ! what shall I say to them now ? 
To the rich man I say, ' Cast from thee thy riches ; ' to the poor man, ' Pray God that 
wealth may never enter your dwellings.' " 

Judge Edmonds, being "in the spirit," as was John of 
Patmos, saw the following vision, revealing the sad condition 
of one groping in the spheres of darkness : 

" It was a vast country that was before me. I saw to an immense distance. It was 
peopled by great numbers. Some parts were darker than others, and some of an ink- 
like blackness. There was a great variety of shade to the atmosphere from a light- 
gray to black. I had seen the same variety in the happy spheres ; only there it was a 
variety of light, here it was a variety of darkness. 

"I approached one of those black spots, and there, in a miserable hovel, was a hu- 
man being. He was ghastly, thin, haggard — almost a skeleton. He knew no means 
of escape from that dark habitation, where he was all alone. The most violent of hu- 
man passions were raging in him, and he was ever walking back and forth, like a 
chained tiger chafing in his cage. 

" There was a little light in that habitation of his, but it was an awful one. It was 
the red, flame-like light of his own eyes. They were open and staring like burning 
coals, with a black spot in their center, and were constantly straining to see some- 
thing — the darkness was so horrible to him! He had no companion but his own 
hatred and the memory of the evil past. 



EVIL SPIRITS, THEIR PLANS, DOINGS, AND DESTINIES. 115 

" He paused once in a while in his walk, raising his clenched hand ahove his head, 
And cursed his Maker that ever he created him. He cursed also the false teachers, 
who had pretended to tell him the conspquences of a life of sin, and yet knew so little 
of them. They had told him of a hell of fire and brimstone only, and he knew that 
when he died, casting off his material garb, such a hell could have no effect upon him. 
He knew that such a hell was impossible. He therefore laughed the idea to scorn, 
and, dreaming of no other, he believed there was none. Now, waking to the reality 
of a hell far worse than had ever been painted to him, he cursed God and man that he 
had been left alone to dare its torments — that he had been left in ignorance of what 
must follow the indulgence of the material passions to which he had given up his 
whole life. 

"If you could have seen the agony that was painted on his face, the despair and 
hatred that spoke in every lineament, the desperate passion that swelled every mus- 
cle, and the horrible fear that stole over him of what further, or worse, might ensue 
from his daring defiance of God, you would have shuddered and recoiled from the 
sight; and what aggravated all this suffering was his ignorance that there was any 
redemption for him, and the belief that it was for ever ! . . . . 

" He clasped his hands together over his head with a gesture of mute despair, and 
standing thus a few moments he cried, ' Oh, for annihilation ! ' If you could have heard 
the tone in which that imprecation was uttered, you could have formed an idea of ' the 
torments of the damned.' He had worked himself into a frightful paroxysm of pas- 
sion. He had thrown himself prostrate, and there groveling in the dirt and writhing 
in agony, he howled like the most furious maniac that bedlam's worst cell ever saw. 
At length, from sheer exhaustion, he was still. His physical powers could go no 
farther, but the worm of his memory of the past, which never dies, was but the more 
active because of the cessation of the external effort ; and now, as he thus lay pros- 
trate and exhausted, solitary and in utter darkness, all the evil deeds of his life on 
earth chased each other through his memory, sporting with his agony, and faithfully 
performing their terrible duty of retribution." 

The Spirit Stewart's Exploration of the Hells, through the 
Mediumshiv of Thomas Walker. 

u The spirit-world, almost measureless in extent, has actual 
localities, as well as conditions, where sympathizing spirits 
meet. A higher spirit may visit the lower spheres, but the 
reverse is impossible. 

" Leaving our beautiful spirit home, crossing Angel Lake, 
and descending a deep decline, we come to a sluggish rolling 
river at the foot of the hills of Eternal Sorrow. Then as- 
cending a mountain, and standing upon one of its loftiest 
peaks, we look behind, observing Angel Lake nearly a hun- 
dred miles in the distance, appearing a bright and luminous 
star-point upon the horizon, with broad intervening valleys. 

" Turning our attention to what is before us, we see in the 
widened distance a misty darkness, and as we descend in an 



116 IMMORTALITY. 

opposite direction from which we came, the darkness becomes 
more and more intensified. There is no vegetation, no spark- 
ling rivers nor smiling lakes. As we pass on, coming to the 
base of a range of hills, rising and crossing them, the harsh 
cries, and the hoarse agonies that appall the soul, reveal the 
fact that we are in the neighborhood of dark and undeveloped 
spirits. 

" We stand for a moment — for there are twelve in our 
party — to mature plans for the thorough investigation of 
these cities of strife. We each take a separate path, leading 
to different portions, I having the most direct route assigned 
to me. I walk steadily, thoughtfully along, the darkness fad- 
ing into a lurid, dusky, phosphorescent light, until I come to 
a huge cavern, around which are fierce reptiles, crawling liz- 
ards, and slimy serpents, winding around each other as though 
in fond embraces. In the atmosphere are vultures, black and 
dismal — everything is terribly repulsive ! 

" Reflecting for a few moments before entering the cavern 
for investigation, we come to the conclusion that these fierce, 
loathsome, and horrid creatures are the natural outbirths of 
just such dismal localities as this. - Descending beneath the 
overarching ceiling, we discover a capacious, vault-like room, 
where reside two women and one man. Inquiring, we are 
informed that the two women, in a quarrel about the man, 
and their social relations with him, had, while on earth, mur- 
dered each other, the one djdng immediately, the other living 
a few days to rave in anger. The vile man soon after com- 
mitted suicide ! In malice, hate, and strife they lived on 
earth, and dying in strife they were borne into the spirit- 
world ; hence their home is in the City of Strife ! And as if 
to remind them of their past deeds, pictured streams of blood 
seemingly roll down the sides of the deep black walls of their 
dismal abode ! 

" In relating the sad story to us they occasionally quarrel, 
accusing each other, and moaning in spirit ; and as they do 
this, the reptiles and animals, so demon-like without, mock 
them, and ghastly, bat-like creatures screech in dismal dis- 



EVIL SPIRITS, THEIR PLANS, DOINGS, AND DESTINIES. 117 

cords that echo through the cave-chambers. Here these per- 
sons are doomed to remain till by punishment, by penance, 
by repentance and active deeds of reparation, they shall make 
amends for the past. 

" Leaving the cavern by its only entrance, we find our- 
selves once more in the more free but impure atmosphere. 
We have no great distance to go before we come upon a clus- 
ter of wretched huts. Their exteriors are coarse and painful 
to behold, and their interiors are in perfect correspondence. 
Insects and lizards are also here, and the denizens of the air 
are pouring out their jarring discords. The occupants of 
these squalid homes are of the same quarrelsome nature as 
the one we have just left. 

" The City of Strife is justly named 

Horror's Camp ! 

" Traveling on our winding way, over some barren hills, 
whose frowning summits intercept the light from brighter 
scenes, is Horror's Camp ! Its dwellers are numerous, and 
principally those who have died in drunken fits, or have come 
to these shores in some other vehicle of crime and sin ; not 
that they merely died in any particular passion, but having 
lived lives of licentiousness and vice, driving far away the 
light of virtue, they entered spirit life in this impure state. 

"It is really touching — enough to melt the heart of the 
stoutest, to observe their furrowed brows, glaring eyes, strag- 
gling hair, and bony, sinewy frames, half covered in scarlet 
garments. We observe that some of them gaze intently upon 
the dark and dismal walls, without removing their eyes from 
the serpent-charmed spot. The scenes of their past lives are 
in their most disgusting features, floating before their vision, 
and playing upon the walls. They are horrified at the sight 
of their own misdeeds ; and they cr}' out occasionally in wail- 
ing choruses, comparable only to terror itself personified ! 
Sometimes they vary this monotony by endeavoring to re-live 
their earthly lusts ; but being unable, they are mortified and 
shocked with horror, and then resort to new orgies, hoping to 



118 IMMORTALITY. 

realize some carnal delight. It is surprising to hear how 
some will talk to their comrades about virtue. They know 
the word's most significant meaning, yet they cover it with 
a kind of polished vice, and make the two terms synony- 
mous. To listen believingly to their talk, some of them on 
earth had lived exemplary and virtuous lives ; yet they are 
the most depraved and degraded of any. These more talka- 
tive characters will draw plans for leaving Horror's Camp 
that they may return to earth, that they may influence mor- 
tals, and in this way gratify their propensities. But as all 
have different views upon the matter, and as inharmony pre- 
vails in their demoniac councils, the affair generally ends in a 
quarrel. And so they here remain — poor, vice-strung souls, 
horror-bound, they sigh in restless suspense, daily exhibiting 
their contempt for the laws of man and God ! " 

The Hells Mitigated. 

" Deeply interested in the study, and pursuing my explora- 
tions, all bring in reports similar to mine. Three of us now 
resolve to continue, for a time, in one of these hells, and 
watch the methods of reaching and redeeming those peopling 
the lower spheres. We select the case of a man who has been 
in darkness some time, yet seems possessed of some good ten- 
dencies. His abode is in a den beneath an overhanging cliff, 
dimly illumined by a ghastly light. It should be remembered 
that the Divine Light partially illumines, and the Divine 
Life, by the law of influx, flows into all the spheres. 

" Unseen by this person, we adjust ourselves and watch him 
carefully, noticing every act and listening to every ejacula- 
tion. In this way we learn that in a revengeful quarrel with 
his brother, while on earth, he inflicted upon himself a fatal 
wound, and therefore was borne to this dark place. He grav- 
itated to his own place just as naturally as a stone falls to the 
earth. Here he indulges at times in expressions of anger, re- 
venge, and terrible threats. Upon one occasion, after these 
wild ravings, we see him sadder than usual, and, sitting upon 
a cliff, and thinking doubtless of his misspent and vicious life, 



EVIL SPIRITS, THEIR PLANS, DOINGS, AND DESTINIES. 119 

he cries out in the fullness of his soul, ' What ! am I here for 
trying to slay my brother ? O heaven ! I've been mad ! ' 
and the tears, such as only spirits can shed, stream down his 
face upon the crystal rocks beneath. And while thus weep- 
ing the vapor of his thoughts gather round him, in-filling his 
demon-home with sorrow. Soon we begiu to witness his 
gradual transformation. 

" The rocks disappear, the fierce howlings in the air are 
hushed, and this seemingly lost soul, angel-guided, finds him- 
self in a dismal cellar, in one of the filthy streets of Liver- 
pool, England. Here on a pallet of straw, without the com- 
forts of home, lies his brother — almost dying ! Remember- 
ing at once his past unkindnesses, the scene touches his soul's 
vitals. He weeps; and tenderly bending over the sickly 
form, he prays, i O God, and O father and mother — angels 
now, forgive my past sins, and make me better in the future, 
for Christ's sake. Amen ! ' 

" His tears, his earnest prayer, draw others to him, though 
he is not aware of their presence ; they give him strength, and 
he imparts it in love-waves of magnetism to his deeply 
wronged and suffering brother. This continues for months, the 
sick man growing weaker, fainter. But all this time the good 
thoughts of each enlist the interest of higher spirits, while 
the two brothers build by their thoughts and deeds of kind- 
ness a home in the better land. The last we witness is when 
earth yields up its claims, and the released brother, leaving the 
body, is borne in slumbers sweet to the abode awaiting him, 
by the brother now more angel-made. As time passes on, the 
flowers grow, the trees sigh, the streams ripple, and the birds 
sing sweetly in adjoining groves ; for no inharmony, no sloth 
abides in that home ; and so in blessing another, the blessing 
is returned. . . . Here you may ask, even though our motive 
was good, how we could leave our sun-bright abodes and 
tarry in the murky atmosphere of the hells ? Be our answer : 
Spirits project the atmosphere or aural emanation in which 
they live and move. When descending into the hells, this 



120 IMMORTALITY. 

personal atmosphere becomes a protective envelope, being pos- 
itive to the general as well as individual atmospheres of lower 
spheres ; but if one attempts to ascend from a lower to a 
higher sphere, his characteristic emanations are negative to 
the aromal flames which then become to him a consuming 
fire." 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 121 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE TESTIMONY OF PHYSICIANS AND OTHERS IN SPIRIT 

LIFE. 

"He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." 

The Revelator. 

Dr. Jeachris's Some — Experiences and Observations in Spirit 
Life. Through R. C. Floiver^s Mediumship. 

When living in the body, I resided in England, and have 
been in the world of spirits about one hundred and fifty-seven 
years. In the process of dying I seemed to fall asleep. It 
was about midnight when I left the form. Dr. Talbot James 
was standing by the bed-side. By profession I was an Epis- 
copalian, believing in the literal resurrection of the physical 
body, believing that the righteous went to Paradise, and the 
wicked to perdition. 

When full consciousness came to me, it seemed to be morn- 
ing, and I said to my sister standing by my side, " It must be 
morning time ; it is light in the East." I fancied that birds — 
white sea-birds — and sylph-like forms were flying about me. 
Everything was clothed in a kind of beautiful strangeness. 
Forgetting my tired feeling, and becoming more consciously 
awake, I saw persons gathering around and smiling upon me. 
I saw upon the stand,, buds and beautiful flowers, felt gentle 
touches upon my head, and felt too comfortable to make any 
special inquiries. I seemed to partially sleep, and waking saw 
my mother kneeling by my side. She dropped a kiss upon my 
lips, and taking me by the hand, I stood up fully conscious that 
I was in the resurrection state of existence. But I was dis- 
appointed — sorely disappointed. Some whom I expected to 



122 IMMORTALITY. 

meet were absent. Some whom I believed hopelessly lost, 
were present helping me. And others still, whom I had almost 
reverenced and worshiped as apostolic, were not there. They 
were not fitted to be spiritual teachers: I learned by this, 
friend Peebles,- that souls are saved neither by the cross 
nor creeds ; neither by uttered prayers nor professions ; but 
by just, pure, and upright lives. Episcopalianism did me no 
good whatever. The afflicted that I helped, the sorrowing 
that I encouraged, the poor that I relieved — these were the 
good angels that flocked around me, welcoming me to the 

home of immortality 

The spiritual body is the intermediate between the soul and 
the physical body, and does not disintegrate and .become par- 
ticled in the process of changing worlds. The spiritual man 
rises up in its glorified form out of the inferior, unfit, worn-out 
garment. One of the apostles — Paul, I think — saj r s, " There 
is a spiritual body;" and he might have added: There shall 
be a spiritual body, or a more glorious body, rising in per- 
petual perfection. . . . As to my home, I might have had a 
better one had I lived a more unselfish life ; but such as it was 
I was conducted to by my mother and some friendly spirit- 
attendants. Compared with the homes of mortals, it was emi- 
nently attractive — and yet far inferior to the homes of the 
angels. Perhaps you wish a more minute description ? Thread 
together all the beautiful thoughts of your life, weave them 
into a garden of delight, fill that garden with choicest pictures 
of charity, sympathy, and love, and you will realize in part 
the beauty of my home ; consisting as it does of parlors, 
chemical instruments, galleries of art, select libraries — for we 
have these things here — as well as beautiful skies above, 
down from which in avenues of light the angels of God de- 
scend. And yet my home is imperfect. There-was a place 
for history of unselfish love, and I had not written it ! There 
was an empty library shelf that should have been filled with 
books of Philanthropy, and I had not filled it ! And here 
was a vacant place that I should have filled with a volume 
containing a record of my gifts to the poor ; but, alas ! though 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. V16 

wealthy, I had hugged my money like a miser. People called 
me liberal ; but Heaven looked upon me with pity. True, 
there were volumes of philanthropy ; there was a record of 
my kind deeds, but there were many blanks also ; and so my 
home was imperfect. A beautiful house, sheltering an ex- 
tensive library, with many empty shelves. . . . Some who 
accompanied me to my home, left soon afterwards ; they 
were not permitted to stay. Others did not choose to stay ; 
perhaps they saw my empty shelves. Had I done what I 
might have done on earth — had I been a missionary of light, 
and an angel of mercy, scattering my treasures to make men 
and women good and happy, my library would have been 
filled, and the imperfect chambers of my house would have 
been finished and begemmed with precious stones. 

Q. As you develop and become more heavenly in your 
aspirations, does not your home become more beautiful ? 

A. Certainly it does. And because of its imperfection, 
because my work on earth was not well done, I was necessi- 
tated to return to this earth-world of darkness, to finish up 
unaccomplished work. My mission for the time being is here. 
I have relieved the suffering ; I have impressed the rich to 
give to the poor, I have spoken words of cheer to the dis- 
heartened ; I have stood by the beds of the dying, and whis- 
pered words of comfort to weeping ones. Thus am I fulfil- 
ling my mission ; thus am I perfecting my house ; thus filling 
the empty shelves, thus beautif} r ing the chambers, thus bur- 
nishing the furniture, and brightening the surroundings. Do- 
ing this in years agone, I have reached a higher plane, and 
my home is infinitely more attractive. And yet, I must widen 
it to receive others, for my love goes out to all the intelli- 
gences of God. 

Q. According to Sweclenborg, if I rightly understand him, 
time and space are unknown to spirits. Is this your expe- 
rience ? 

A. Time and distance are nothing to spirits compared with 
what they are to mortals ; but to say they are absolutely un- 
known to spirits, is saying too much. Whatever exists, neces- 



124 IMMORTALITY. 

sarily exists somewhere, and this very term implies locality — 
and between different localities there must be distances, and 
this word implies space between them. Still, we travel 
almost like thought. There is no distance really to your 
thought. You can think of the islands that stud the Orien- 
tal seas as quickly as you can of the Atlantic ocean. You 
can remember something that transpired last year, as quickly 
as something that happened to-day. These facts you recog- 
nize ; yet, when thoughts are connected with an organized 
being, they more sensibly appreciate the conditions of time 
and space. 

England, I think, is about 3,500 miles from this continent, 
and yet a spirit will pass from here to there in a few minutes 
of time. My present home, I would say, is hardly half as far 
from this place as England. I can impress the medium while 
in my spirit home, and even entrance him, although I usually 
come into his immediate presence. On the present occasion 
I was in my spirit home when the medium took this chair, 
and did not depart from it until the medium felt something 
tingling the base of his brain. My present home, remember, 
is far above your earth, in the regions of the interstellar 
ether. 

Q. Are many mediums controlled by undeveloped spirits, 
sometimes termed demons ; and if so, how is the matter to be 
remedied ? 

A. Sir, you touch upon a subject that we in spirit life — 
keenly feeling the force of it — have a delicacy in answering. 
It is to a great extent true. Comparatively ignorant, bigoted, 
and self-conceited spirits often control good and innocent 
mediums, just because they can, and then prate to the world 
that they are Socrates or Jesus, Mohammed, Josephus, or some 
other great historic character. It is fearful to behold ! I 
have seen mediums speaking under influences, making pre- 
tentious claims, when in fact they were controlled by some 
scheming and depraved libertine. Psychology, and all the 
phases of spirit control, should be more carefully studied. 
As an organized band of spirits, we allow none but ourselves 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 125 

to control this medium. By the exercise of this caution, we 
find that we can use him to better advantage. He has nat- 
urally a kind, yielding nature, and if opened to all controls 
and gradations of spirits, he might be unwisely handled, and 
his nervous system in the end become a wreck. 

Why, sir, this morning a poor afflicted mortal came to this 
medium for the purpose of being medically examined. While 
standing by the medium, telling of his maladies, I pointed 
beyond, and said, " Poor mortal ! there is your disease, a very 
low spirit — a cunning demon ! I touched the young man, and 
for a moment his nervous sj^stem was very much agitated, but 
he soon became calm and seemingly comfortable. I command- 
ed these demons to leave the room, and this nervous, suffer- 
ing mortal was quiet and happy, saying, " I feel like a new 
man ! " But these inferior spirits, because of the patient's 
habits of life and unfortunate associations, will again have 
control of him. 

Remember that dying does not speedily transform evil- 
minded men into angels. There are in the lower spheres of 
our world playful spirits, frivolous spirits, mirthful and mali- 
cious spirits. The whole of this unpleasant truth should be 
told. There are revengeful spirits, who sometimes injuriously 
influence little children; and they would sometimes carry 
their caprices still further were they not arbitrarily restrained 
by guardian angels. This subject of psychic influence and 
obsessions should receive more attention from thinkers and 
medical reformers. And mediums should be better protected 
on both sides of the river of death. 

Q. What is your opinion upon the question of pre-exist- 
ence, now agitating the minds of the French and English 
speaking Spiritualists ? 

A. This is strange to me, being so foreign to my mission. 
But I have no hesitancy in expressing my opinion, though it 
differs widely from the medium's. Personally, I have no 
recollection of ever existing prior to my earthly life. And 
yet, I have met spirits, many ancient spirits, who claimed to 
have remembered distinctly an existence preceding their life 



126 IMMORTALITY. 

on earth. I have no such recollection. However, I have 
attained to a state of unfolclment enabling ine to understand 
that every spirit exists in preparation before conception. I 
was ignorant of this for many 3^ears after coming to the spirit 
land. Ancient and wiser spirits than myself can tell you 
more about this subject so difficult of comprehension. I have, 
however, learned to my own satisfaction that every spirit has 
an existence before the beginning of embryonic life. The 
spirit, or soul as some prefer to call it, is a compound of 
divine attributes, or the essence of essential life. And away 
in the infinite deeps, in the bosom of the everlasting chimes, 
away beyond on the breast of infinite thought, I can see that 
the spirit was prepared for earthly incarnation. I have never 
said this before to mortals, and I hardly think they are pre- 
pared for it. This medium would not believe it if I should 
preach it to him till the rising of to-morrow's sun. But med- 
icine, as you well know, and not preaching, is my mission. 

Q. What estimate do you and your associates in the higher 
life put upon Jesus Christ ? 

A. This is a question which, when answered, yon will per- 
ceive to be more in harmony with the medium's mind than 
the previous one. In the ages of remote antiquity, away 
back beyond the closed avenues of thousands of millenniums, 
when angels lived upon this earth, when gods and goddesses 
smiled upon the Eden lands of the Orient, virgins, pure and 
lovely, were selected and raised up with an eye single to the 
duties of holy motherhood. Intellectually, physically, and 
morally, they became almost perfect. After a few genera- 
tions, from such mothers, in connection with wise and chaste 
fathers, there arose a beautiful humanity. Golden ages in the 
past are neither dreams nor myths. In those remote periods, 
women were lovely to look upon and divinely lovely to con- 
verse with. Then the controlling spirits of the higher Edens 
conceived the idea of raising up some Son of Light, so beau- 
tiful a spirit, his white scepter of love, like a magic wand, 
should touch, radiate through, and ultimately mould all the 
elements of society. Looking down the vista of years, they 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 127 

resolved to choose a pure virgin, especially prepared; one 
who in her childhood they should medinmistically influence, 
purifying her nature, enlarging her conceptions, and expand- 
ing her clairvoyant vision. This was accomplished. She 
grew to maturity, strong and good, when they selected for 
her a proper and spiritually minded companion. In the con- 
nection of the blending forces, the union of wisdom and love, 
there were given .the right conditions for the sacred incarna- 
tion ; and from this moment the to-be-welcomed one was 
illumined and enveloped in spiritual light. Spirits influenced 
and continually overshadowed the mother. The father was 
so influenced and psychically overshadowed, that apparently 
the child was not his, and yet it was his. From the moment 
of conception to the birth, and thereafter, angels were daily 
visitors in the capacity of ministrants and teachers. Thus he 
grew. The old Egyptians would say of such a " son of light," 
that he was begotten by the Holy Spirit, because spirits and 
holy angels directed the methods through which it came to 
enlighten the world. This is my opinion of the matter. But I 
do not presume to speak for all spirits. ... I have seen Jesus 
of Nazareth in the higher world which I now inhabit. There 
are halos of energy and love — halos of golden brightness 
surrounding the head of this healer, sympathizer, and orator. 
He did not often speak when living upon earth, but went 
about in the capacity of healing the sick, making the blind to 
see, and casting out demons. Your records of him are by no 
means perfect. He is a Divine Light, a loving missionary, 
whose influence is not only felt, but whose presence is some- 
times seen in those spheres that once echoed in love and for- 
giveness among " spirits in prison." He was not, when in 
Palestine, the intellectual reasoner that was Plato in Greece ; 
but he was the soul of love — a living center of intuition. 
Accordingly, where one to-day hears of Plato, millions hear 
of Jesus. And just so long as the potency of love is acknowl- 
edged in the universe, just so long will he be enthroned in 
the hearts of the wise and the good ! 



128 IMMOETALITY. 

A Series of Philosophical and Practical Inquiries answered by 
Mr. Rush through the Mediwmship of J. W. Colville. 

The process of dying to me was a period of temporary un- 
consciousness. I passed from earthly existence very suddenly, 
and woke at an apparently immense height above the earth. . . 

My first companions in spirit life were my mother whom I 
had dearly loved on earth, and a friend who had been my 
guide when in the body. Many other spirits soon came around 
me with words of welcome. ... 

My spirit home is not within the atmosphere of this earth, 
but far above it. . . . 

I found a home prepared for me in spirit life, but incom- 
plete ; I am now working to complete it. Every act of my 
earthly life, yea, every secret thought, I found had taken tan- 
gible form. Many scenes either adorned or disfigured the 
walls. As I endeavored to rise above all earthly imperfec- 
tion, as I labored to assist spirits in the lower spheres and men 
on earth, the bright scenes glowed out with unspeakable bril- 
liancy, and the dark ones gradually faded out and brighter 
pictures filled their places. During our sojourn on earth our 
homes are prepared for us by the angels, and are built of the 
vibrations which go forth into the spiritual atmosphere from 
our hearts and lives. Will-power, when it subdues evil, beau- 
tifies the home. 

When a spirit habitation is no longer required, the atoms 
of which it is composed are dissipated, the spirits carrying 
with them up to a higher sphere the materials, which then 
form the nucleus of a more glorious home. Spirits who have 
gained a complete victory over matter can cause habitations 
to spring into being at will ; and then they cease to exist as 
such when no longer needed. . . . 

The only library I have is my memory, and when I desire 
information, I converse with spirits higher than myself; and 
being able to will myself to other places than the one I in- 
habit, I can visit personally places concerning which I desire 
information. I can also read the books you publish on earth 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 120 

through my medium, and thus become acquainted with your 
literature. . . . 

• I have not personally visited other planets, but am well ac- 
quainted with many spirits who have. These inform me that 
nearly every planet is inhabited by a distinct race of beings, 
those on the planet Mercury being the lowest race both in 
intellectual and spiritual enlightenment, and those on the out- 
ermost planet being the highest cultured. The moon, I hear, 
is also inhabited, but by beings very inferior to civilized man 
on earth. The accounts I have received correspond with those 
given by " Hafed." Those only who have reached the inter- 
stellar spheres can gain knowledge direct from other planets, 
and they communicate their knowledge to the sphere which I 
now inhabit. . . . 

Animals and insects of earth sometimes retain individ- 
uality for a brief period after leaving their bodies, but soon 
become merged into the vast realm of elemental spirit. Man 
alone, of all the beings on earth, possesses permanent and 
eternal entity, which persists by reason of his possession of a 
divine soul. ... , 

We have never met with elementary spirits. I do not 
know any spirits who have. . . . 

All spirits in spirit life have guides, even as every man on 
earth has a guardian angel; and also many have a band of 
spirit guides. Spirits progress, and mediums progress, and 
when both advance together, the relationship of guide and 
medium may be retained for an indefinite number of ages. . . . 

We regard spirit as the cause, and matter as the effect of 
all things. Spirit is eternal, and is eternally creating sub- 
stances as vehicles for outermost expression. The relation 
between spirit and matter is analogous to that between con- 
scious man and his physical body. . . . 

All souls abide in God as the eternal Fount of Being. 
They find expression in matter in order that they may subdue 
it and become co-partners with the Deity in his work of crea- 
tion. Souls are generated to-day by the union in celestial 
love of the angels in heaven, who in perfection of purity are 
9 



130 IMMORTALITY. 

God's mediums for the creation of souls. We believe every 
soul expresses itself through matter either in this system of 
worlds or some other before it can return to the Creator as a 
conscious, victorious, individual spirit, willingly subjected to 
the Divine Law. . . . 

The soul is not evolved up through matter, but proceeds 
downward into matter from God, wherever matter is capable 
of giving it expression. No structural organism lower than 
the human in the scale of organic life is capable of giving ex- 
pression to the divine soul, the most interior part of man's 
nature. It is the possession of the soul that makes man what 
he is. We regard the soul as the very breath of God in man, 
the direct inbreathing of the deific life, which gives to man 
eternal individuality as a distinct being. . . . 

All germs exist in the spirit before they can be expressed 
in matter. The monad expresses the single spiritual germ, 
the duad the continuation of two, the triad of three, and so 
on. Everything exists in spirit life before it can clothe itself 
with matter. We regard every expression of life as the di- 
rect result of the incarnation of a distinct spiritual type. 

Man unquestionably was the result of a direct act of crea- 
tive power, even as were all other forms of life. Man was at 
the first moment of his advent on earth in appearance little 
higher than a monkey, though no more a monkey's offspring 
than is a dog. In the spiritual world every type existed pre- 
vious to its appearance in the material world. Man's spirit 
was the highest possible development of spirit, though with 
its possibilities not yet attained. 

We regard Protoplasm and Bioplasm merely as convenient 
terms used by scientists to explain their theories. We be- 
lieve that man was as fully competent to eat and digest food 
when he first appeared on earth as he is to-day. The organ- 
ism was more gross, and could assimilate grosser substances, 
perchance, more readily than civilized man. Man as a struc- 
tural organism always possessed all the powers in germ which 
he will ultimately possess fully developed. . . . 

There are no processes going on now whereby one type 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 131 

merges into another. Such a theory is a mere assertion of 
some schools of scientists, and cannot be proved by observa- 
tion or any amount of reasoning. 

Dialogue with a Spirit : a Communication from William 
Gordon, through Dr. Samuel Maxwell. 

I was born, reared, educated, and passed to spirit life from 
Boston. I was a merchant tailor. KjJts* 

Q. In passing into spirit life, how long a time w-as you un- 
conscious ? 

A. Having no memory of it myself, I have to rely entirely 
upon others, especially my mother, who was waiting for me ; 
she informs me that it was about an hour and a half. I had 
been quite unconscious several days, consequent upon a fever, 
but just before dissolution, perhaps for one hour, I became 
entirely conscious, free from all delirium, so that I was per- 
fectly aware of my condition. After bidding my friends fare- 
well, there came over mfe the sweetest sense of rest that I had 
ever experienced. This deepened, until finally my vision 
closed ; all things grew dark. Next hearing was closed ; all 
things grew silent. But in that utter darkness and silence 
there was complete consciousness of existence, and the most 
profound rest and confidence in the bosom of the infinite life. 
Gradually consciousness itself faded into oblivion. When I 
awoke„ my first realization was simply a feeling of myself. 
Gradually my powers increased until I perceived my body 
lying under me, while I, the man in spirit, was floating in 
the air some three feet above it. Next I perceived my physi- 
cal surroundings, the friends who were about the body weep- 
ing. I made an effort to make them realize my presence, 
but soon found that I could not reach them. Next came the 
recognition of my mother and several other spirit friends. 
Soon I came into full consciousness of my immediate sur- 
roundings. In my investigations in subsequent years I have 
witnessed thousands of instances of the process of death, and 
have learned that the spirit body is never disorganized, but 
moves as a whole towards the head, and then gradually 



132 IMMORTALITY. 

emerges from the physical form through the head until it is 
free from the body. The separation is complete only when 
the life-cord which connects spirit and body is severed. In 
cases of death by violence this life-cord is not parted for a 

considerable time. 

* 

Q. At this time, being conscious of the presence of your 
mother and other spirits, how long did you remain in the 
room? 

A. Perhaps two hours ; then we passed out into the atmos- 
phere, and moved forward until we arrived at my mother's 
home. Here I found many friends awaiting my arrival. 
Usually I find that but a limited number of friends come to 
you at the time of your passage from the body into spirit life 
— only those who can assist 3-ou.* Here, after a time, I was 
left alone to rest. The sweet repose that followed was much 
like sleep, except that I was fully conscious. While my bod- 
ily organs slumbered in a kind of quiet melody, my soul was 
wakeful and active. 

Q. Was your external clothing prepared for yon ? 

A. It was, and brought to me and put upon me when I 
first escaped from the physical tenement. 

Q. Did this spiritual clothing correspond to the spiritual 
status of your spiritual life ? 

A. I afterwards perceived that it did, although I had no 
consciousness of this correspondence at the time. For six 
years after entering spirit life I was restless and dissatisfied, 
seeking far and wide for the fulfilment of the fixed notions I 
had in earth life. I was a rigid Presbyterian by faith. I in- 
terrogated my mother, who simply answered me, " My son, 
await the growth of thy soul to perceive truth." At length 
there came over me a spirit of acceptance, a feeling that I 
must take life as the Infinite Will and Wisdom and Love had 
prepared it for me. That once fully fixed in my soul, I be- 
came most thoroughly satisfied and happy. From that hour 
I have pressed forward in all the paths of progress as rapidly 

* Some years ago the reporter received a message through T. L. Harris, in which 
the spirit said: " There are certain spirits who are called 'deliverers,' who attend at 
the birth of the spirit, — that which you call the death." 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 133 

as was possible for my nature. One of the bitterest things 
that millions experience in spirit life is this utter failure to 
realize the preconceived notions that were contracted in the 
earthly state. 

Q. Do you still reside in the same local home ? or have 
you a home of your own ? 

A. I soon went out and formed for myself a home, with a 
band of chosen persons, six in number. We live in one resi- 
dence — three males and three females. Usually societies in 
spirit life are grouped according to the character of their 
loves, and six is the smallest subdivision — the family unit 
— constituting a trinity of three pairs. Larger families are 
usually a multiple of six, as thirty-six, it being desirable to 
secure the harmony which results from working these num- 
bers together. In the homes thus instituted all follow their 
intellectual bias, and bring the results to the home for the 
benefit of all. Diversity in unity is. thus realized. 

Q. Did you soon desire to return to earth and communi- 
cate with mortals, informing them of your new surroundings 
and teachings ? 

A. Not until after my full acceptance of spirit life as I 
found it. 

Q. Are there not spirits in that life who are really opposed 
to returning to earth ? 

A. Indeed there are. While some are indifferent, being 
absorbed in the pursuits that engage their minds. 

Q. Have you a teacher ? 

A. Many of them. Each specific subject that I pursue 
has a teacher specially devoted to it. We have large insti- 
tutions of learning, and in each institution there are a num- 
ber of teachers. Teaching is usually by means of representa- 
tive objects. 

Q. Is thought a spirit substance ? 

A. It is spirit substance in motion. 

Q. What is the difference between a thought and an idea? 

A. Thought is a spirit substance in motion, while an idea 
is the ever-enduring principle or statical form of spirit sub- 
stance. 



184 IMMORTALITY. 

Q. When we enter spirit life, is not our spirit hair' the same 
it would have been if left to grow its natural length ? 

A. Yes, if so desired. 

Q. Why not lengthen or shorten the spiritual body at will 
as well as the hair ? 

A. The hair is a vegetable life attached to the human 
body. It has nothing in it but vegetable, and that vegetable 
is to a certain extent under the control of the will. 

Q. Are the blood disks vegetable in their nature? 

A. They are to a certain extent. They convey the vege- 
table of the body from point to point, and are the connecting 
links between the vegetable and animal life. 

Q. Can spirits dispose at will of their spiritual beard ? 

A. They can by uprooting it, as certain Indian tribes on 
earth do. 

Q. Do you find in spirit life that the thoughts, desires, 
plans, and purposes of the earth life were so impressed upon 
your spiritual bod}?- and brain that other spirits can read them 
thereon by simply seeing the spirit ? 

A. Those who are in the higher conditions of spirit life 
can read you through and through ; so much so, that lan- 
guage is unnecessary, the thought-pictures being perceived 
by the inspecting intelligence. But in the lower societies 
there is a limited power to conceal from each other the inter- 
nal mental states. 

Q. Do you find many ancient spirits, that have lived per- 
haps ten, fifteen, or twenty thousand years ago, that still take 
an interest in the inhabitants of earth ? 

A. But a very limited number. The great mass of ancient 
spirits have passed on from the spirit spheres immediately 
connected with earth. But there are a few who descend into 
the forms of society the}^ have long since left in a mediato- 
rial capacity. By using intermediate persons in spirit, they 
connect themselves with you, and impress and inspire you 
with the grandeur that belongs to their estate of life. 
When you are brought in contact with these ancients you 
experience a peculiar expansion of soul and far-reaching per- 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 135 

ception quite unknown to your habitual mental states. You 
are thereby made to feel sympathetically your connection 
with a region of pure thought and lofty dignity. 

Q. Have you ever seen Pythagoras or Plato, Pericles or 
Seneca, Demosthenes or Cicero — those sages of Egypt, 
Greece, and Rome ? 

A. I have seen Seneca and Demosthenes, and quite a 
number of ancient persons with whom the world are not 
acquainted — whose names have not been handed down to 
the historic period. 

Q. Should a man, looking from your standpoint, always 
live up to his ideal in act, thought, and work of life ? 

A. He most certainly should, especially where moral duty 
is involved. If he does not, there will come a time when he 
will regret lost opportunities. ^Perfection of character is 
attained by continually striving to realize one's ideal./* 

Q. If I should do that, I would let my hair grow at full 
length ; I should put on the half-robe of the Brahman ; I 
should wear on my feet a sort of sandal ; I should travel and 
dispose of books, and pamphlets, and papers, and lecture 
without money and without price, simply saying, Put clothes 
on my back and food into my mouth. This is my ideal, and 
yet if I were to do it they would put me into a lunatic asylum. 
What shall I do about it ? 

A. Every man is gifted with reason so that he can adapt 
himself to his surroundings. Through the exercise of your 
reason you must compromise these peculiar feelings and de- 
sires that you have ; they are an influx from ancient spirits 
who are about you. You must needs compromise some of 
these with the external life you are compelled to live. 

Q. What about the five thousand people being feci ? Was 
that a process of materialization? 

A. It certainly was, if it ever took place. If I were to 
spiritualize the figures of speech common to that age and 
country, I should say, it was not fishes, it was not loaves, but 
it was spiritual power that went out and filled the hearers. 

Q. Now in regard to your spirit home. You have flowers ; 



136 IMMORTALITY. 

if you pluck these from the stem, do they wither like earthly 
flowers? 

A. That depends upon your desire. It is truly marvelous 
how potent the will becomes to control the surroundings in 
spirit life. It is possible to construct a bower of flowers by 
the power of will even without the intervention of the hands. 
In a thousand ways the will may be brought to bear upon the 
living, throbbing materials about us, until our surroundings 
are the ensemble of our inmost mental states. 

Q. Is it possible for intelligent, highly-exalted, chemical 
spirits to materialize the life -principle or physical basis of a 
human germ so as to beget offspring independent of the union 
of physical parents, or even in the absence of the physically 
masculine office ? 

A. We do not believe it is possible ; but we believe it pos- 
sible that spirits who are in a proper condition can take the 
life-principle from the masculine organism, transport it to the 
feminine receptacle, and thus commence a new being without 
the personal contact of the parents. Moreover, where the 
parents are very mediumistic, the new gestating life may be 
so charged with the vital magnetism of controlling guardians 
that the resultant being shall be neither like the father, nor 
mother, but a copy of the model to which the guardian forces 
were subordinated. ~We believe that Jesus received his physi- 
cal body in this* manner. - And other characters, we believe, 
who came into the world to accomplish a certain work had 
their antecedents of birth wisely arranged by convocations of 
celestial intelligences. 

Q. One question more : What is the great soul-desire that 
wells up in your being at this present time, after your long 
experience as a spirit ? 

A. It is to learn more of the truth. 

Q. What is your object in learning more truth ? 

A. It is to gratify that restless desire of the soul to ap- 
proach nearer to the Divine Life which is All Truth. 

Q. Is not that motive selfish ? 

A. It may be ; but, nevertheless, it is true. 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 137 

Q. Would it not be better to say that your highest desire 
is to teach the truth to humanity, and that you seek the truth 
to this end? 

A. The highest attainment of a human being is dependent 
upon this selfish desire. We must become self-centered before 
we are prepared for the divinest service. —Then we shall de- 
sire to give away ; then we cannot continue to gather save 
we distribute to others. 

An English Physician' 's History : through the Mediumship of 
Mrs. Q. Woodford. 

I have been in spirit life forty-eight years, and died when 
thirty-five years of age. I was a physician, and my life in 
the body — I say it with all humility — had been as useful as 
I could well make it. 

When entering spirit life, and becoming conscious of my 
surroundings, I discovered at once that I had a home, and in 
it I was not alone, but in the company of those I had loved 
upon earth — those who had preceded me. Some of these I 
have since left, for here we are joined together by concordant 
states. I am with them only when it suits me, and when I 
feel that I can spiritually benefit them. 

Now I have a higher home, and a far more beautiful one, 
in that heavenly society which I have been permitted to join. 
This home has, so to speak, grown about me in exact corres- 
pondence to my nature. All that I innately possess of the 
beautiful is here expressed in outward semblance ; all that 
can gratify my highest aspirations surrounds me in some form 
which responds to the inner emotion or sentiment. In my 
home I read myself, for I have made it, — my individuality is 
stamped upon all around as if it were a mirror giving me 
back myself in correspondential objects. For the spirit home 
is the home of the mind, and it is the mind which must there 
rejoice — there live. A man on earth makes his home as well 
as his means and the circumstances in his life will permit ; 
but in the spirit world the externals surrounding him become 
a picture of what he is. A man who lives for self alone, per- 



100 IMMORTALITY. 

haps at war with his fellow-man in the great struggle of 
"get ivhat you can" — such a man finds himself in the condi- 
tion of external poverty corresponding to his own poverty of 
spirit, for he dies spiritualty poor. The smallest act of kind- 
ness, mercy, compassion, of aid, of self-denial, of intellectual 
or bodily labor, to please, benefit, instruct, or help others, will 
make its own beauty around the spirit, and will be found in 
some living object in the spirit home, objects which describe 
themselves to the wise spirit in the forms they wear, and are 
sources of satisfaction or joy. 

Man, in the interior sense, is his own house-builder in the 
spirit world, and the weaver of his own garments. A man 
who has been spiritually poor on earth will find himself asso- 
ciated with scenes of poverty in spirit life. 

My house is what on earth would be called a palace — the 
palace of my mind ; of apartments various and numerous* 
adorned according to the mental tastes I cultivated on earth, 
and thus made my own ; for as you soiv so shall you reap; ac- 
cording also to those higher spiritual tastes of which I vaguely 
dreamed in the earth life, and have realized since I came 
here. If a man will study himself spiritually, he will under- 
stand from his different mental states somewhat of those 
various apartments of his spirit home which I would speak 
of. There are times when he delights in the company of 
friends, or in hours of study ; but there are sacred moments 
upon which no being, not even the clearest on earth, may in- 
trude. There is in spirit homes a holy of holies, a chamber 
apart and sheltered from every eye ; therein the spirit retires 
when engaged in contemplation, or in that state when he 
communes with the Father, and receives more plentifully of 
His Spirit. There is also the guest-chamber, or chambers, 
where friends meet. Our houses do not resemble those of 
earth in all details, for we have no vicissitudes of climate, 
no uncleanness, no noxious insects or animals, no fear of 
thieves. We have no need of fires, nor do we require to 
cook our food. Other spirits in lower spheres may. I will 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 139 

here permit my medium to describe a guest-chamber in my 
home, which she beheld clairvoyantly not long since. 

u I seemed to stand beside W., in a vast apartment where 
at first my attention was quite absorbed by a lovely table ; so 
marvelously beautiful was it that I could look at nothing else 
until I had mastered all its details. Of a substance purely 
white like Parian marble, oval in form, not resting upon legs 
as tables ordinarily do, but gracefully sloping inwards in many 
a beautiful contour of leaf and tendril, to a central base, as a 
vase or tazza might be formed. It is impossible to give an 
idea of the delicate beauty of form, or the exquisite carving 
of the sides and bottom, nor of the purity of its substance, 
resembling Parian marble, but more transparent. From its 
center a small fountain threw its glittering waters up into the 
air, seeming to spring from the very breasts of the lovely 
flowers which rested there. Drinking-cups of gold set with 
gems stood around, intermingled with pyramids of rarest 
beauty. As I turned my eyes from the table, the beauty of 
the whole apartment burst upon my sight. Spacious in length 
and breadth as it was, all one side was open to the air, the 
roof being supported upon a double row of stately columns, 
between the shafts of which my eyes rested upon a lovely land- 
scape, where in the distance ran a river ; and a row of arches 
also, something like those on the Roman Campagna, but not in 
ruins, traversed the scene. I had but a glance, catching sight 
also of several robed figures in the apartment, when TV. said, 
4 Now come down these steps ! ' I glanced up and around 
again, to see that the ceiling or roof of this lovely chamber 
was transparent and of prismatic hues, and that the wall or 
side not open to the air was covered closely with flowering, 
creeping plants, surrounding mirrors and pictures, and growing 
so thickly that it seemed a wall of flowers and leaves. I ob- 
served also that pure white and gorgeous-colored birds were 
flying in and out. I followed TV. down gleaming white steps 
at one end of this chamber out upon a sunny lawn, where 
were beds of flowers, and groves of trees, and a large central 



140 IMMORTALITY. 

fountain springing from a basin having the hues of a diamond. 
Then my vision passed." 

Q. How is your spirit- clothing constructed? 

A. My spirit-clothing is the outgrowth of my mental states. 
It forms itself upon my body, and is instantaneously in form 
according as my mind may vary its emotions, or frame of 
thought. This is so natural a thing with us that it excites no 
comment ; on the contrary, if it did not occur we should won- 
der, and inquire. My clothing is of silk, velvet, lace, cloth 
of gold (or what would seem so to clairvoyants of earth), 
gauzy muslins, or simply white materials neither thick nor 
thin. The nearer earth the more like earthly manufactures 
of woven threads are the clothings of spirits ; the more re- 
mote from earth, or the higher in the spirit world, the less 
like the fabrics of earth, of an attenuated gauziness of texture 
indescribable, and transparently luminous, as are also the very 
bodies of these spirits. In the highest heavens angels are 
clothed upon with innocence, and are garmentless ; but de- 
scending to lower spheres on acts of beneficence, appear 
clothed. 

Flowers and gems form part of our personal adornments; 
these too are the outgrowth of the spirit, and are purely cor- 
respondential to gifts of the spirit. The form, shape, or fash- 
ion of the clothing is corresponclential also, and the status, 
dignity of office, or occupation of a spirit, is known by the 
fashion of his clothing. Colors also, being entirely symbolical, 
are expressive of conditions or states. Swedenborg has de- 
scribed spirits as changing their clothes according to fancy. 
This, in a measure, is true, but does not destroy the fact I 
have stated of the fashion and character of the clothes chang- 
ing upon the body, assuming almost instantaneous changes of 
texture, color, and shape, according to the change of thought 
or feeling. 

Will is the creator : the will of man is according to his love, 
which in reality makes the man. If a man be of evil loves, 
that is, if his inclinations which have their birth in affection 
or love be evil, his life will necessarily be evil ; but if his love, 



TESTIMONY OF PERSONS IN" SPIRIT LIFE. 141 

inclination, will, be for good, the life will be good ; hence in 
the spirit world, the will being creative, all the surroundings of 
man are the offspring of his will or love : he is the inevitable 
creator of his own world there, and can be surrounded only 
by similitudes of himself. A large company or society of like- 
minded spirits, therefore, form a heaven in which the scenery, 
homes, and externals are representative of the nature or char- 
acter of the spirits thus dwelling from similarity of loves in 
company (I use the word loves to express the variety of affec- 
tions, tastes, likings, which are of the will). A spirit ap- 
proaching from another society detects instantaneously in the 
aura or atmosphere the nature of the love of the society he 
approaches. Atmospheres are redolent of perfumes in heaven, 
for goodness, sweetness, gentleness, benevolence, intellectu- 
ality, wisdom, every great and noble gift of the spirit, has its 
own essential pure fragrance. 

Q. How do you travel in spirit life ? 

A. The mode of locomotion in spirit life is according to 
the pleasure of the spirit. A spirit may be conveyed with 
the rapidity almost of thought through space, according to 
the eagerness of his desire ; or he may leisurely convey him- 
self by walking, by floating, or sailing in a boat ; or, if on land, 
by a kind of carriage propelled by sails. All these modes of 
conveyance correspond to some frame of mind. Spirits are 
also seen upon horses, and in chariots. 

Q. What is your special work? 

A. My occupation is at present much upon the earth, aid- 
ing this medium in her work. At other times I am simply 
pursuing that life which is most agreeable to my character of 
mind — contemplation, study, the society of the wise and 
learned in the things of the spirit, and in those inexhaustible 
pleasures of existence which are the birthright of all who 
have not destroyed their right on earth. 

Q. Have you visited other planets ? 

A. I have not yet visited other planets, except by that 
sight which your clairvoyants have, and which is exercised by 



142 IMMORTALITY. 

spirits in a superior manner; but there are limits to even a 
spirit's interior sight. 

Q. What do you conceive to be the final destiny of the 
human soul ? 

A. I understand by the human soul the spiritual body, 
called by the French " jierisprit," by others the " astral man," 
&c. Within is the human spirit, termed by some the soul. 
The human spirit or soul never ceases to progress through all 
eternity, rising ever to higher and higher states of beatitude, 
becoming more and more at one with the Father, until it is 
all divine and like unto God. 



THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 14o 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 

" In my Father's house are many mansions. ... I go to prepare a place for you." 

Jesus. 

The Home of tlw Apostle John. By the Spirit Aaron Knight, 
through the Mediumship of E. 0. Dunn. 

You ask for a description of the home and the surroundings 
of him whom I am proud to acknowledge one of my divine 
teachers. Though I have visited this palace in the skies, I 
cannot find language competent to describe it. And before 
making the attempt, let me impress upon your mind that 
spirits, like mortals, translate the facts and scenery of the 
heavens in accordance with the limitations of individual per- 
ception much as minds do on earth. 

I have frequently assured you that there should be kept in 
view the wide difference that exists between what a distin- 
guished seer designates as the Spiritual Heavens and the 
Celestial Heavens. All mortals, when disenthralled from the 
physical body, are in the world of spirits, but not necessarily 
in the spiritual world, nor in the angel realms of perfection. 
Some spirits take up their immediate abode just above their 
former earthly homes, casting upon them a powerful psycho- 
logical influence. Miserly spirits linger about their vaults ; 
and others, disorderly and maliciously inclined, cling to their 
previous localities, producing magnetic conditions suitable for 
haunting houses, for producing obsessions and nervous dis- 
eases. These spirit spheres enzone the earth in circles, the 
first of which lies many leagues beyond the altitude of your 
atmosphere as estimated by scientists. Moreover, the more 



144 IMMORTALITY. 

exalted spirits experience a depression when descending into 
the lower stratum of your atmosphere analogous to what 
you experience when descending into a damp vault or subter- 
ranean retreat. Again, the upper regions of your atmosphere 
are free from the malaria and foetid odors which pervade the 
lower portion. As 3^011 ascend, the oxygen, ozone, and vital- 
izing properties are augmented. In the first spheral belts 
that engirdle your earth are birds, animals, insects ; but they 
are the necessities — the outbirths of these different spheres 
— spheres in which you find the scholarly plane, the inven- 
tive, the musical, the domestic, and every other phase of so- 
cial and mental development. In the Celestial Heavens loves 
partake more of the universal. Here there are no animals. 
They are not desired. Affections flow out toward and find 
their satisfaction in communion with earthly and heavenly 
intelligences. 

But you ask for a description of John's abode. On a 
golden belt, lying far out and away from the deleterious influ- 
ences of the earth or any other planet, there's a home in the 
cloud-lands — a home comparable to a sunny isle floating upon 
a sapphire sea. Leaving the aural belts and zones that environ 
your earth, and traversing vast spaces, bearing a little to the 
southward, we reach the southern portion of this beautiful 
island. Passing onward from this point through magnificent 
scenery, through beautiful groves, whose overbending branches 
are more sensitive to the conditions of spirit life than sensi- 
tive planets are to the rude touch of mortals, — passing gar- 
dens and ornamental trees, the waving leaflets of which keep 
time to the enchanting music of angel life, — we finally reach 
an undulating lawn, the grasses of which, tremulously vibra- 
ting, form a pathway for the white feet that press their tender 
blades. Soon we approach the center of this isle of beauty, a 
description of which earthly language is inadequate. 

As forces emanate from centers, so from the center of this 
island there is an ever-living fountain, the crystal jets and 
sprays of which, rising high above the foliage, fall back upon 
leaflets and blossoms, and upon trees laden with perpetual 



THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 145 

fruitage ; the surplus forming a magnificent lake with waters 
as limpid as they are pure and placid. Upon the shores of 
this lake are all kinds of creeping vines, and flowers heavy 
with sweetest perfumes. In the waving trees are a variety of 
birds whose warbling notes, like echoes, return their dupli- 
cate songs; and so sensitive are the delicate productions of 
this divine realm that the lilies and opening blossoms give 
forth JEolian melodies, mingling and blending with the choral 
music of the birds. 

As everything in the higher forms of nature tends to the 
oval, like the rose and the orange, like descending dewdrops 
and worlds, so this lake is circular. Just beyond the margin 
of these placid waters stands a grand and imposing temple. 
The central structure is circular, while the height is beauti- 
fully proportioned to the base. Around the interior circular 
wall are balconies which ascend to the very dome, which 
dome is aflame with a sun-illumined splendor. In the center 
of a capacious room, near the dome, is a circular library, 
poised upon a pivot, the volumes of which are replete with 
the condensed wisdom of the affes. On the walls within the 
balconies are suspended life-like pictures of distinguished mor- 
tals, and some of the mighty spirits of antiquity. The doors 
and windows are arched. In the apartments, elegant and 
chaste, are oval niches filled with speaking statuary. In one 
of these consecrated departments I observed the statues of 
Jesus and the apostles. Looking out from this apartment to 
the south is a crescent-formed conservatory in which perpet- 
ually bloom rarest and choicest flowers — flowers so exqui- 
sitely tender that the breath of a mortal would seemingly 
destroy them, as would a white-heated furnace the most sen- 
sitive tissue. 

On different sides of this templed structure are semicircu- 
lar apartments used for meditation, heart culture, and spirit- 
ual rest; one of these is especially dedicated to silent-soul 
communion, where the beloved John retires to commune with 
his inmost self and the soul of nature, thus coming into such 
10 



146 IMMORTALITY. 

harmonious relations with nature that all knowledge, so to 
speak, becomes subject to his will. 

The outer walls of this temple are overhung and festooned 
with gracefully growing and blossoming vines, the delicious 
fragrance of which yields perfumes for the senses, ethereal" 
ized auras for the spiritual body, and heavenly manna for the 
soul — ay, more, the incense or the outflowing fragrance, 
inhaled from these perennial flowers and fruits, not only sup- 
ports the demands of refined spiritual natures, but affords 
rest, peace, joy, and ecstasy absolutely inexpressible. 

Such is our feeble attempt to describe this home, where a 
soul robed in white breathes the atmosphere of love, and 
feasts upon the sacred wisdom of the gods. This, or similar 
homes, shall be yours, my brother — shall be yours, O chil- 
dren of earth, when ye are worthy ! 

Ancient sages come in chariots of flame to visit this heavenly 
Patmos in a sapphire sea — come to counsel with him who, 
once under Syrian skies, so sorrowfully yet tenderly, leaned 
upon the bosom of Jesus. John — to many of us the ideal 
of love — seldom visits the earth or any of the zones imme- 
diately encircling it. He is a counselor in the higher courts 
of the heavenly life. 

Tlie Rev. Tliomas Scott's Confession and Progress in Spirit Life, 
through the Mediumship of W. H. Lambelle, of England. 
I was born in Lincolnshire, England, but received much of 
my education at an endowed school in Yorkshire. Being of 
a reflective turn of mind, I often thought of the uncertainty 
of human life, but put off religious thoughts and convictions 
to a more convenient season. I had a great memoiy and de- 
sire to shine in the literary world. Hence I resolved to enter 
the ministry. I was proud, ambitious, and desired to distin- 
guish myself. These selfish motives influenced me to assume 
the position of a clergyman. Preferments came to me un- 
sought for. In 1785 I was elected chaplain of the Lock 
Hospital. In 1788 I commenced my notes on the Bible, be- 
ing seven years after I had been presented to the Vicarage of 






THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 147 

Aston Sunford, in Buckinghamshire. At this period I ac- 
cepted the more rigid of the Calvinistic doctrines, and on every 
available occasion never failed to preach Christ and him cru- 
cified — Christ, the only Saviour, sitting on the right hand of 
glory. . . . At length, the weak constitution that I originally 
inherited, in connection with arduous religious studies, began 
to give way. Death stared me in the face. To the last mo- 
ment I remained in full possession of my consciousness; my 
thoughts were firmly fixed upon the glory to be immediately 
revealed to me, through the presence of my Saviour Jesus 
Christ. Calling upon his name, there passed through my 
body a benumbing sensation, and I almost instantly found my- 
self with some friendly members of my congregation, who had 
previously died. Welcoming, they conducted me to an im- 
mense plain, dotted with flowers and studded with the most 
perfect mansions. Here resting, there came to me a being, 
seemingly pure and bright, whose duty, he said, it was to in- 
struct and conduct me through some of the spheres of glory. 

I was not conscious of any peculiar changes in myself. 
My memory, my faculties, and powers of understanding, re- 
mained the same as before the sensation of numbness, except 
that I felt the weakness of an enfeebled body, and I might 
add, there was a fresh strangeness in many things that I saw. 
My transition took place on April 16, 1821. 

The spirit to whom I referred as coming to instruct me, was 
on earth called Martin Luther. He conversed about my new 
abode and mode of life, informing me that a home had been 
prepared for me in accordance with my tastes and moral 
worthiness, and that he would conduct me to it, after showing 
me some of the states of spiritual existence. 

On his referring to my doctrinal beliefs, and attempting to 
disabuse my mind of much of my earthly theology, I turned 
to him in the full assurance that I could silence him, and 
quoted, " He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath 
both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, 
and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, 
neither bid him God-speed; for he that biddeth him God- 



148 IMMORTALITY. 

speed is partaker of his evil deeds." This opened a deep and 
earnest conversation. We talked as we traveled, but I was 
not persuaded that the "Prophet of Galilee" was anything 
less than the incarnate Son of God, who suffered as a substi- 
tute for our sins. How else could it be. I was troubled ; 
anguish filled every fiber of my spiritual being. Spiritual 
friends gathered around me, and I prayed that I might see 
Jesus of Nazareth. . . . 

My guide conducted me through homes of bliss and enjoy- 
ment, and spheres of transcendent loveliness, to the presence 
of one purporting to be the meek and lowly one. Seeing him, 
the mists fell from my eyes. He assured me that he was not 
the one living and true God the Father. . . . He was so lov- 
ing and sweet-spirited that I felt sure I was speaking with 
him, who on earth said, " Our Father who art in Heaven." 
Though he has a most divinely commanding appearance, he is 
gentle, kind, and persuasive, and exercises a more potent 
moral influence in the spirit-spheres than many spirits are will- 
ing to admit. It is impossible to at. once outgrow earthly 
theories and dogmas. 

My powers of flight hardly know any limits. When not 
otherwise engaged, I dwell in a home, the counterpart, struc- 
turally considered, somewhat like my earthly home. I did 
not construct it myself, But my endeavors have tended to 
beautify it, and render it more ethereal and attractive. 

The final destiny of souls I conceive to be a most "intimate 
union with, though not absorption into God ; but before such 
exaltation can be attained, we must struggle onward through 
realms of discipline and progress, until we have cast off every 
impure thought, every imperfect desire, every earthly taint — 
until we are spotless and stainless, we must be content to 
labor on for others' good. " It doth not yet appear what we 
shall be," but the destination is evidently divine union with 
God. 

There are dark, mirthful, and malicious spirits in the lower 
spheres — the sedimentary realm of spirit-life. It is a part of 
the employment of the higher to teach and uplift the lower. 



THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 149 

But it is not all spirits that can descend to these spheres ; 
hence, many are disposed to come within the atmosphere of 
earth, and within the influence of communicating circles, in 
order that the influences of the well-disposed, yet clothed in 
material habiliments, may form a bond of connection through 
which the lower intelligences may receive instructions and 
assistance from the higher. This is the most practical way, 
but it has the disadvantage that, unless a spiritual atmosphere 
is breathed by those in the circle assembled, they will have a 
deleterious rather than a purifying influence. Did opportu- 
nities favor, I should have been pleased to have said more 
upon this last topic, as it really forms the ground-work of 
spirit communion in its moral and reformatory aspects. 
When you lecture, my friend, you address at the same time 
two congregations, one clothed in mortal bodies, the others 
in spirit life. The two worlds are now so united, sympatheti- 
cally and spiritually, that what educates and blesses one, 
necessarily has a similar effect upon the other. Jesus, after 
having been afflicted by the spirit, entering the resurrection 
life, "preached to the spirits in prison." He is still preach- 
ing, the influence of his teachings descending to the lower 
strata of spirit life. Progress is the eternal purpose of God. . . . 
May the God of heaven, the only true God, vouchsafe 
unto the subject of this narrative, and every reader thereof, 
that wisdom that cometh from above, that faith which works 
by love, that peace which passeth all understanding, and that 
sanctifying influence of the spirit, that shall keep us steadfast 
and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. 
Amen. 

A Swedenborgian Spirit in the City of Arcadia, through the 
Mediumship of Mrs. F , of London. 

When I was tabernacled in the earthly body I was called a 
New Church minister, and was a devoted follower of Emanuel 
Swedenborg. I do not choose to give my name, and in refus- 
ing would convey the lesson that names are but tinkling cym- 
bals. Every message, whether from the inhabitants of the 



150 IMMORTALITY. 

heavens or the hells, should pass for what it is spiritually and 
intrinsically worth, reason and the highest judgment in all 
cases being the arbiter. 

When in my body I lived in a populous city, and now I 
find that there is a corresponding city above it. In one of 
the most elegant and refined divisions of this city of Arcadia 
is my present home. Four principal streets cross the city, 
which, viewed from the higher heavens, lie in the form of a 
cross. Along the streets are magnificent and, I may say, 
sacred trees — sacred because they symbolize spiritual truths. 
The streets glitter with precious stones. They are also sym- 
bolical. Fountains of living waters adorn that part of the 
city in which I reside, the houses and temples being alike 
adorned and refreshed by them. The rich vegetation around 
these fountains instills into the waters its own aromal essences. 
Other fountains have medical properties for undeveloped spir- 
its ; and others emit the purest life-giving nectar. . . . 

To distant cities and localities there is in appearance hang- 
ing over this favored city a rainbow arch of wondrous dimen- 
sions, of transcendent splendor, not stationary, but waving, 
entwining circle within circle, forming, as it were, chains and 
links of the most gorgeous hues. It is clear to spirit sight 
that this appearance is formed by a company of angelic spir- 
its from the holier spheres, to minister, and, by their presence 
and the diffusion of their heavenly atmosphere, to spread 
abroad divine knowledge and love over especially this central 
point of the divine society and the river of life. Christ is 
the light of the whole arcana of the spirit land. Surely, in 
our "Father's House," the measureless universe, are "many, 
mansions" — many spheres, societies, circles, conditions. 

Chariots, seemingly of fire, descend from the canopy or 
rainbow which overhangs the city of Arcadia, and on certain 
spiritual holidays they convey such as are willing and pre- 
pared to ascend to some of the higher spheres of the Christ 
Heavens. Elegant vehicles, drawn by horses and other kinds 
of graceful animals, here, as on earth, are subservient to the 
spirit's will. There are beautiful birds here also. To com- 



THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 151 

plete the life in the spirit land, with its varied occupations 
and requirements, all such acquisitions are as necessary as on 
earth, only always in a" spiritual degree. . . . 

Spiritual bodies do not suffer physical pain. Neither do all 
the physical diseases of earth, as some have taught, originate 
in spirit or the spiritual world. Malarial diseases, small-pox, 
yellow fever, and many other diseases originate in purely 
physical causes. . . . Social converse in our world corresponds 
to that in yours. Sometimes spirits speak audibly, and then 
again, more especially in the higher spheres, the thoughts of 
one flow into the mind of the other without speech. . . . 

Men and women, continuing as they do their individ- 
uality, sex necessarily exists in the world of spirits, but in 
heaven there are no perversions of these functions. In the 
divine order, spirit exists prior to the body. Substance is 
eternal, and spirits become clothed in more exterior garments 
through the nuptial unions of angelic counterparts. Every 
child in its origin, therefore, is pure and sinless, until, by 
assuming the exterior degree, through natural generation, 
he inherits the imperfections of his parents, which he has to 
overcome in himself as he grows and unfolds toward the 
divine life. Evil spirits are never the spiritual parents of 
earthly children, because that which makes the man is the 
soul-germ, and divine because inter-related to and partaking 
of God. Animals possess the two outer degrees of spiritual 
substance, but not the interior — not the divine soul-germ. 
Hence, at their death, they do not retain their individuali- 
ties, but pass into other essences and forms. The animals 
and birds of our spheres are indigenous to and adapted to 
them. It is absolutely impossible for me to fully explain to 
you the divine glories that pertain to the Christ Heavens. 
You may well ponder upon what an ancient apostle said : 
" It doth not yet appear what we shall be." 

A Methodist Minister's Life in the Spheres, given through the 
Mediumship of Mrs. Gc , San Francisco, Cal. 

When I left my weak, exhausted body I was met on the 



152 IMMORTALITY. 

spirit side by friends who welcomed me with songs of glad- 
ness and shouts of welcome. Foremost among these were my 
old father and mother, appearing in the prime of life, as I 
remembered them in my own early manhood. We were a 
mighty host gathered about the old, discarded earth mantle, 
and each seemed full of joy, but not one so blissfully content 
as I in my renewed youth and friendships. This was during 
the first glad surprise. Afterward I became anxious, as the 
questions of God and His judgment arose in my mind. Re- 
garding that judgment as final, I earnestly questioned my 
spirit as to its life on earth. At this, my friends, all seemed 
to disappear, and there stood by me one clothed as with 
the light of the sun, and I fell upon my face filled with fear. 
I thought I was in the presence of the God whom I always 
feared more than loved. I, on earth, had been a doubter, but 
fearing my doubts were from the evil one, I had resolutely 
preached Christ, whose unselfish character I could understand 
and love. 

" My son," said my radiant guest, " I am but your guide, 
once a mortal like yourself. I come to show you your earth- 
work. Arise, and look upon the souls you have blessed." I 
obeyed, and beheld a cloud of witnessses to the ministry of 
more than half a century. They cried, " To you, father, we 
owe the desire to do right." Oh, ministers of good, be brave 
and true, and your spirit will be so intertwined with the 
glory of God or good that your soul will vibrate to such a 
greeting with a joy mortals cannot understand. There are 
times of ecstasy on earth, but no more to be compared to this 
rich, ripe harvest of love, than the tiny clewdrop to the great 
ocean ! 

These friends, then, seemed to fade into the brightness of a 
band sent to conduct me to my spirit home. By their supe- 
rior brightness, I saw dark spots in the tide that ebbed and 
flowed about my own soul. Looking closely, I was annoyed 
by the sight of weakness through which I had passed on 
earth. In the world of shifting light which seemed a part of 
myself, I read all my life ; not one thought, not one hope, not 



THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 158 

one act was missing from the long earth-record. But as I 
looked, the good I had done and tried to do, produced such 
joy, that tides of light from the center of my being so flooded 
my sphere, that the darkness of the earth melted from view. 
Blissfully I repeated my old and favorite hymn : 

"No foot of land do I possess, 
No cottage in this wilderness." 

Then I seemed caught in a current of delight, up-borne by 
tender hands, floating, swimming in bliss until we entered a 
world of such exquisite beauty that earth has no heart to con- 
ceive nor words to describe its transcendent loveliness. 

When I looked about, and saw the beautiful fountains send- 
ing up their fragrant, many-tinted drops, the waving of the 
rainbow-spanned foliage, the glittering of the diamond-sprayed 
shrubbery, the sheen of the silvery stream, I cried, " Heaven 
is a life of sight." But then there came a burst of music, 
such as finds no counterpart on earth. I shivered with very 
ecstasy ; my quickened, sphere-enshrined life shot out sparks 
of praise, until in my soul was born a new song that flowed 
in tenderest rhythm to meet the waves of celestial music that 
came rolling in, and I exclaimed, " Heaven is surely music." 

I was then conducted to a grand, palatial mansion. How 
shall I describe it? Simply then it was like Maximilian's 
home at Trieste, only more adorned, more elaborately orna- 
mented, and of such material that only the diamond on earth 
can give an idea of its pure, but prismatic beauty. It was 
one scintillating, gorgeous, efflorescent outpouring of light, 
one ceaseless flow of rainbow shimmer, one grand, overpower- 
ing light, flashing life. This home was prepared by Maxi- 
milian, that princely martyr whose desire to help a suffering 
nation has been called ambition only by those who knew not 
his great heart's love for God and humanity. 

Here I found kindred souls, Washington, Lafayette, and 
many others whose names I had venerated on earth. I won- 
dered why such should welcome me, the poor preacher who 
had done no great act for the people of earth ; and there 



154 IMMORTALITY. 

came a sweet voice as from the ether about me, " Serving the 
poorest of my creatures was serving me, the Creator and 
Father of souls." 

What though I remain forever too gross to see that fountain 
of life ; what though some say, " There is no God," while the 
upspringing drops of love water the divine germ, expanding, 
growing in my own soul, I know there is a conscious, tender 
All-father, who willingly bears with his poorest creatures, 
while they struggle in vales of darkness and doubt. 

" No work is done in our world without considering the 
time of fruition," said Maximilian, who, taking my arm, led 
me to a beautiful alcove at the right of the grand entrance, 
and with a bow motioned me to enter. I obeyed, and found 
my loved ones waiting with beaming eyes, to show me our 
home — a home prepared for us by one of whom we never 
dreamed in our earth-life, but whose soul claimed ours as kin. 
And I thought Heaven is in these sweet surprises, and the 
meeting of family ties in a beautiful spirit-home. 

After a time I was led to a large assembly hall, where I 
found an earnest discussion on the best way of averting war 
which hung like a dark cloud over all the world. I, as one 
who had mingled largely with the mass of the people, who so 
lately had left earth, was consulted, and tried to respond. 
But so many were there whom I was accustomed to regard 
only with reverence, that I was like an awkward youth before 
the tutor whose knowledge is a mystery, yet provokes delight 
and admiration. Little by little, however, I forgot personal- 
ities in the beautiful ideas presented, and I was enraptured 
by the purity, the love, the unselfishness of each, until my 
soul decided, and still feels, that heaven is communion with 
worthy and kindred hearts. So far I have dwelt more upon 
the emotional than objective experience of my change. 

Even now I have no right to paint any but my own part of 
Maximilian's home. 

To the right of the grand entrance-hall from which it is 
separated by a beautiful alcove, is the room where we meet 
for social pleasure. It is lofty and in the form of a parallelo- 



THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 155 

gram. On one side is a raised dais, forming an automatic 
orchestra, so arranged that if we choose, in conversation, we 
can command sweet, soft tones as a charming accompaniment. 
Around this room are statues interspersed with fountains, 
flowers, and beautiful artistic forms, shaped with such exqui- 
site imitation that only fragrance and life point the difference 
between the work of nature and the work of art. Paintings 
of wondrous color and life-like perspective, works from the 
greatest masters of art, in a manner unknown to earth. 
There are sofas and chairs of charming forms and luxurious 
softness ; tables of elegant patterns covered by books that will 
both instruct and delight. 

From this room there is a hall that leads to our different 
retreats. I have fashioned mine after the home aspect of my 
old loved study. The old bookcase preserves the same face, 
but its shelves are filled with better books than those that 
adorned my earthly library. 

This homely room refreshes my soul, after the dazzling 
magnificence of our social hall ; and here I can read the loved 
ones still on earth, as, the battery of love once established, we 
need not encounter the dark or disagreeable earth-atmosphere 
unless we desire to personally visit the material plane. 

Above the social hall is a large room for literary purposes, 
in which is an extensive and carefully selected library, with 
all our improved means of communicating and registering 
ideas. We here employ the batteries of thought which con- 
nect with kindred thoughts in other homes. Thus, indepen- 
dently born, truth is more clearly demonstrated as coming 
from the Celestial world, from which outflow ideas that we 
send to earth as its people are capable of receiving, digesting, 
and acting upon them. ... 

We are not able to express the manner by which we com- 
municate through our batteries, as you have nothing analo- 
gous on earth, unless you can imagine mind as the battery, 
and sympathy as the connecting wire. 

Each spirit is conscious of an aroma, or world emanating 
from itself. The aural brightness of the higher hides the 



156 IMMORTALITY. 

state of soul, the darkness of the lower reveals each secret 
act to those above, while the spheres of those on the same 
plane so blend that each may reserve or reveal his soul at his 
own pleasure. 

Those we meet. — Fannie A. Conant's Entrance into Spirit Life, 
as embodied in a recent Communication, through a most Re- 
liable Medium, to Luther Colby, the Veteran Editor of the 
Banner of Light. 
Addressing Mr. Colby, she said: 

"You frequently ask me to give you an account of whom 
I met when I entered spirit-life. Let me here try to tell you. 
As my senses closed to material sights and sounds, a deep 
feeling of rest, of infinite calm after storm, came over me. 
It seemed as though all space was my home, that I was no 
longer cramped and limited by conditions, but that I could 
claim the universe as my resting-place. But this feeling soon 
disappeared. I am a being dependent upon the love, sym- 
pathy, and association of congenial spirits, for happiness ; 
therefore — unlike Mr. Thompson — I could not be happy 
without a tangible home and endearing associates. 

" As I began to realize my conditions and surroundings, I 
perceived close to me, and bearing me up, so to speak, a band 
of my clear and trusted Indian guides, foremost among whom 
I discovered the old chief Omwah, who was imparting mag- 
netic vitality to me by making passes all around my head. I 
also recognized Sagoyewatha, Black Hawk, Winona, Spring- 
flower, Woonie, Minnie, Vashti, and others whom I had seen 
clairvoyantly many times before. I cannot express to you the 
delight I experienced when I realized that they were indeed my 
old friends come to meet me, and to assure me beyond the 
shadow of doubt that they were the real, personal identities they 
had so often purported to be through my organism. At that 
time my old tormenting skepticism left me, and I was as happy 
as a child. As though I had been but a feather's weight, Om- 
wah bore me in his arms far away into a deeply wooded, 
though mountainous region, to the Indians' happy hunting- 



THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 157 

grounds, where a beautiful lodge, draped with silken hang- 
ings, and ornamented with beautifully colored plumes and 
fragrant flowers, had been prepared for me by my dusky 
friends. Over the door the word ' Tulula ' * shone out in bril- 
liant letters, clustered in the form of a shining star. This 
had been arranged, I understand, by electric lights. Here I 
remained some time, constantly gaining strength, magnetism, 
and rest from my surroundings and friends. 

" But a time came when I felt myself drawn in a different 
direction ; and setting out with Woonie, who seemed to will 
where we should go, and to bear me along by the force of her 
will, I soon came to a beautiful, shining city — Spring Garden 
City — more beautiful than I could have realized in my 
glimpses of it in clairvoyant vision or trance while on earth. f 

" Here I was met by my mother, darling mother, who was 
as familiar to me as the day she left me to join the angels, 
only more shining, bright, and beautiful. Folding me in her 
close embrace, she said : ' Darling Fannie, you DO bring me 
a clear record, for in spite of doubt, fear, and perplexity, I 
thank God that you have always obeyed the angels.' 

"With my mother came my sister — she who died in early 
childhood, now a beautiful woman in the spirit- world. The 
welcome they gave me was very sweet, and in their shining 
home I again rested. 

" At this place — Spring Garden City — I met a large com- 
pany of familiar spirits : Mr. Parker, William White, Mar- 
garet Fuller, Lady Stanhope, Mr. Pierpont, and a great many 
more than I can name here. They gave me a reception out 
in the beautiful grove adjoining Theodore Parker's then resi- 
dence. It was a grand ovation ; music and singing — divine 
harmony of sound that seemed to bear me away on its celes- 
tial wings ; masterly addresses upon my life-work and en- 

* This was the name given to Mrs. Conant, while yet on earth, by her Indian spirit 
friends, and signified " Something to look through." 

f Often, in her independent clairvoyant visions, Mrs. Conant described to ourself and 
others of her friends present at her earthly home, a beaixtiful city of the spirit-country 
which she was permitted to visit, and to which she said the name of Spring Garden 
was given. 



158 IMMORTALITY. 

trance to spiritual life ; kindly words and loving hand-clasps. 
I was indeed happy and at rest. But to me the dearest and 
sweetest welcome I received came from a large number of 
spirits who approached me — some with flowers and green 
palms — all with smiles or happy tears ; a shining throug who 
strewed my way with flowers, and blessed me as their l be- 
loved teacher.' These were spirits who through my earthly 
organism first found light, strength, and encouragement to 
throw off earthly conditions, and endeavor to become better 
and to rise higher. .... 

" I love and bless you for the work you have done and are 
doing for humanity; and countless hosts in spirit-life also 
love and bless you." 

" Sweet souls around us, watch us still, 
Press nearer to our side ; 
Into our thoughts, into our prayers, 
With gentle helpings glide. 

Let death between us be as naught, 

A dried and vanished stream ; 
Your joy be the reality, 

Our suffering life the dream." 

H. B. Stowe. 



THE FRIENDS AND SHAKERS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 159 






CHAPTER XVI. 

THE FRIENDS AND SHAKERS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 

Statements by the Quaker Spirit, Guide of E. W. Wallis, of 

England. 

Q. Passing into spirit life, did you lose your conscious- 
ness ? 

A. I was an invalid for the space of five years, and during 
the latter portion of that time my thoughts were engaged 
continually upon the question of a future state. Many doubts 
and fears assailed me. At last my eyes were opened, and I 
was permitted to behold the presence of spirits. My own 
parents were presented to my open vision. They told me 
that as they lived I should live also. At last, one day, I was 
struck by the sound of sweet music — music which was not 
of the earth — and there was revealed to my sight a band of 
spirits. These were my parents and brother who had pre- 
ceded me into spirit life, saying they had come to take me 
with them. I was not aware of any sudden change. I did 
not feel any painful symptoms, any sudden paroxysm, but it 
appeared as though my physical body had fallen asleep. My 
parents expressed to me their joy that I was with them, and 
we began to move away — seemingly we sailed through the 
atmosphere. 

Q. Some clairvoyants have taught that the spirit after 
leaving moves northward, upon a magnetic current. Was 
this your experience ? 

A. I did not especially note this at the time, and I have no 
knowledge of any such law governing spirits. 

Q. Were the objects you met with tangible to the touch ? 



180 IMMORTALITY. 

A. The} T were as equally real and palpable as were the 
objects I bad left in the natural world. And very soon after 
my new birth, I was conducted by my friends to a home that 
they had prepared for me. . . . After my father had taken 
charge of me, I accompanied him into a garden, where we 
walked, and conversed of the beautiful change, death. Cross- 
ing a lawn into what seemed an orchard. I saw a graceful 
vine, so twined as to form a beautiful arbor in which were 
people conversing. As we approached, they arose and greeted 
us. They were relations and friends that I had known on 
earth. Some of them thanked me for kind words I had 
spoken to them; others assured me I had been the means, 
under God, of their salvation. In the distance I observed a 
high mountain, near the base of which were broad fields, 
dotted with trees and flecked with flowers. Almost upon the 
summit of this mountain was what my father termed a grand 
assembly house, where. were held sessions and convocations of 
wise spirits. Here I saw an elderly man standing by himself. 
He was tall, had a long beard, flowing hair, keen penetrating 
eyes, and rather massive features. I felt awed somewhat, as 
a child would when looking for the first time upon a mon- 
arch. He said, his face beaming with smiles, " Come hither, 
child," and approaching him, he put his arms around my 
neck, and saluted me with a kiss. My whole being was 
thrilled with love and reverence. I learned that he occasion- 
ally visited this department of the spirit world in the capacity 
of a teacher. On earth he was known as St. Peter. . . . 
Feeling a strange sensation, I inquired of my father the 
cause. He said : " It is your friends on earth mourning their 
loss." This seemed strange to me, inasmuch as I was over- 
joyed with my new condition, and I involuntarily said: " Can 
I do nothing to inform them of my happiness ; they should 
know that I am not dead but living ! " Obtaining permission, 
I started with four others for the home of sorrowing friends. 
Approaching them, the atmosphere seemed to grow dark and 
dense, and here for the first time I observed that each spirit 
emitted a light more or less intense. And now I was again 



THE FRIENDS AND SHAKERS IN SPIRIT LITE. 161 

on the earth-plane, and in the very room where I had left my 
physical body. Earthly things that I had known and handled 
seemed to me vapory and shadowy, and I Avas greatly con- 
fused. ... I saw my body lowered into tlie grave — saw the 
flowers they cast upon the dust — heard the tribute paid to 
my poor labors by one of the group, and listened to the song 
that was sung around the grave. The sympathies of those 
present quite overcame me, and I was not only excited, but I 
sympathized deeply, and suffered in their sufferings. Becom- 
ing calm, I pondered over my past life, and my whole earthly 
career passed like a panorama before me, inspiring meekness 
and humility, for I saw how much I should have done I left 
undone. 

Q. What was your profession on earth? How long have 
you been in the spirit world ? And upon what did you sub- 
sist when entering there ? 

A. I was called while in my body a Quaker preacher, and 
was a follower of George Fox. I have been in spirit life 
nearly two centuries. I remember of partaking of the fruit 
that I saw in the orchard ; and I have often drank at crystal 
fountains, although the very air we breathe seems to be life 
itself. There are many things in this higher state of existence 
difficult to explain to you, because there is little analogous 
thereto on your earth. ... St, Peter and other historical per- 
sonages, regarded with so much veneration, are ever working 
for the good of souls on earth and in the heavens. If I 
could take you in spirit away from this room, and transport 
you to my home in spirit life, and from there to the great 
Assembly Hall, you would see a vast concourse of spirits ; 
and upon a raised platform some apparently set apart from 
the general assembly. These are visitors from another and 
higher department in the heavens. On one of these great 
occasions, when an innumerable host of spirits were present, 
we were honored with the presence of the Apostle John. 

Q. How do spirits occupy their time, and what are the 
leading loves of those in your sphere ? 

A. Our sphere is to a considerable extent a reproduction 
11 



162 IMMORTALITY. 

of yours, only everything is far more ethereal and more spirit- 
ually beautiful. A while since my father invited me into an 
imposing building, the ceiling and sides of which were cov- 
ered with pictures, and they seemed to have upon me a pe- 
culiar influence. Attracted closer to them, I saw that they 
were the transcripts of familiar scenes. Upon inquiry I 
learned that they had been painted by my brother, who 
passed to spirit life before me. On one of these landscape 
pictures was an oak-tree under whose sheltering branches I 
used to stand and preach to the people what I considered the 
truth. And the artist had made a ray of light to descend 
upon me from an inspiring angel band, revealing to me the 
fact that I was frequently inspired in my public utterances. . . . 
Many of my earthly experiences have nearly faded from my 
memory. I was not joined in wedlock with the object of my 
choice. The parents objected because I was a believer in the 
despised George Fox, and an itinerant preacher listening to 
the voice of the spirit within. The sympathies of this lady 
were so strongly centered in me that she faded away like an 
early flower, and passing to spirit life became one of my 
spirit guides. We are now linked together by the law of 
divine sympathy, our souls responding each to the other. 
How long this state may last T cannot tell. I am only certain 
of this : that our love is not selfish, and that our united efforts 
are to make others better and happier. . . . 

I dislike to dogmatize upon subjects above my comprehen- 
sion. But it seems to me that sex does not pertain to soul, 
the inmost of man, but to the physical and spiritual bodies. 
There is nothing in the higher spheres that corresponds to 
the lusts of the flesh. What may transpire in the lowest 
spheres of spirit life I do not feel at liberty to state, only so 
far as to say that the more earthly, the more intense the de- 
sire for selfish gratification. . . . 

I have found certain thinkers in spirit life who hold the idea 
that no spirit world existed until this material world was suffi- 
ciently advanced to evolve the sublimated elements that pass 
off and outward to constitute the spiritual zones. Another 



THE FEIENDS AND SHAKERS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 163 

school of thinkers assert that the spiritual world preceded the 
material world, and that this spiritual realm is positive, tangi- 
ble, and permanent, whilst the physical realm of being is the 
representation of the preceding spiritual existence. To this 
latter school of thinkers I belong. I do not know of any set 
number of spheres. They are both conditions and localities. 
While several spirit zones girdle the earth, the one extending 
outward beyond the other, there are almost as many mental 
spheres as there are individual spirits. Considered in a more 
general sense, there are families, groups, societies, and vast 
assemblies — these often occupy distinct localities, varying in 
distances from the surface of your earth. The children of 
men should learn that the only valuable possessions they can 
take to the spirit world are thoughts, ideas, and principles — 
deeds of love and charity and good-will to all humanity. . . . 
Everything which exists, having the attributes of form, 
force, and substance, is but the externalization of a prior idea, 
as the steam-engine is an image of the idea that gave it birth. 
Something as drops pre-exist in the ocean before being indi- 
vidualized, so do souls pre-exist. The origin of the individual, 
therefore, is not coincident with the parental relation. Ac- 
cording to this philosophy — and it appears to me the most 
reasonable — it is impossible to conceive of the beginning of 
an immortal soul. And having had no beginning, it can 
necessarily have no ending, and hence immortality crowns 
the destiny of universal humanity. 

The Gifts and Clairvoyant Sight of Elmira P. Allard, a 
Shaker Sister, Enfield, 1ST. H. 

From my youth up to this present time I have had the 
most unmistakable evidences of spirit communion. In the 
year 1888 believers in our society experienced a revival in 
which those who were in any degree mediumistic were used 
as mediums, myself among the number. At first, however, I 
did not behold spirit forms, but seeking anxiously through 
prayer and supplication for clear spirit-sight, it pleased God 
and His holy angels to open my vision, since which time I 



164 IMMORTALITY. 

have often walked and talked with the angels of God — yea, 
I have heard them converse, and seen them engage in sacred 
dances and marching. From departed spirits I have learned 
songs almost without number. Spirit life is as natural to the 
spirit eye as is the earthly life to the physical eye. When I 
am in the superior spiritual state things are far more substan- 
tial to me than are the things of the external life. Spirits 
that have just left their bodies appear clothed much as they 
were in their mortal form, while ancient and holier spirits are 
clad in celestial attire, shining as the sun. I have been taken 
by guardian angels to distant lands and cities, and shown 
their regal splendors, together with the sins and abominations 
practiced by their inhabitants ; and also beheld the judgments 
of God poured out upon them. The causes of many calami- 
ties or judgments upon earth are spiritual, angels of justice 
proving themselves swift witnesses. The angel of judgment 
has shown me many things that I hardly dare mention — 
things that will come to pass upon this nation for its political 
wickedness, manifested toward the Indians and other inferior 
people. Many times have I seen a holy city located just over 
our temporal buildings — a sort of summer land, adorned 
with glory and magnificence, the habitation of saints and 
angels, and to me as real as any natural city. In the imme- 
diate distance were mountains, rivers, valleys, beautiful gar- 
dens, vineyards laden with purpling fruitage, flowers of deli- 
cious fragrance, and enchanting hills, upon the sides of which 
were singing birds and harmless animals. 

In this spirit land I have seen kings and nobles, priests and 
prophets. The former having become humbled had lain aside 
their kingly pretensions. Near where I saw these characters 
they have one building called the " Congress House of Jus- 
tice." Here was Washington, Adams, Lafayette, departed 
prophets, and many of the noblest of the great men of the 
last century. They were conversing upon subjects relating 
to political economy, as well as receiving instructions from 
higher unselfish intelligences, to be applied to earthly govern- 
ments. The spirit world is a counterpart of this, only in the 



THE FRIENDS AND SHAKERS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 1G5 

higher mansions of God, or spheres, as they are now called, 
everything seems more ethereal and peaceful. Once I saw 
Dr. Franklin in what might be called the telegraph office, 
communicating with the inhabitants of earth. In another 
apartment of this building, which far surpasses my flower of 
description, were Plutarch and Pliny, who, showing me an 
immense crystal globe enveloped in glittering stars, and plan- 
ets represented by different colors, said, " These are planets 
yet to be discovered." 

I have seen the careless, the thoughtless, and the worldly 
selfish, in the prison spheres of darkness. They seemed dor- 
mant and half dead, and I heard what might be compared to 
the trump of God wakening their sleeping souls, and watch- 
ing them. I felt sure that they were startled from their 
lethargy to partially, at least, appreciate their darkened con- 
dition ; and I have seen, too, higher spirits, moved by affec- 
tion, go to their aid, telling them of eternal day and the City 
of Peace. At length, weary and heavy-laden, they would 
move on, guided by missionary spirits, to flowing fountains, 
where, with tattered garments, they would stand under the 
glittering sprays, and would seek to wash the stains from 
their soiled vestures. ' Oh, it is a fearful thing to live a selfish 
life for fame — a life for that meat which perisheth ! 

In hours of worship I have seen hosts of spirits enter or 
stand around our house of worship during service, some of 
which I was familiar with in the earth-life. They appeared 
in every feature and gesture to my spirit vision, as though 
they still inhabited mortal bodies, only they were more light 
and ethereal. I have seen them inspire our elders and elder- 
esses when bearing their testimony against the lusts of the 
flesh and the pride of life ; I have seen them approach mor- 
tals and speak to them, and these mortals echoing would 
speak the same words, hardly knowing why they did so. 
I once saw an elder brother, who* had passed to spirit life 
from one of the western states, enter our house of public 
worship, and handing an open spirit Bible to Elder Henry 
Cummings, asked him to read the tenth chapter of Acts. El- 



166 IMMORTALITY. 

der Henry, immediately rising, took from his pocket a Testa- 
ment, and read the same chapter, making it the basis of his 
discourse. It is surpassing strange to me that all are not 
consciously susceptible of spirit influence — that all do not 
see them as I do, and feel the gentle touches of their snow- 
white hands. 

In the world of spirits there is a council called the " Spirit 
Council." This council, conferring together, sent missionaries 
in various vehicles to mortals and wicked spirits, hoping to 
impress them to turn and walk in the ways of holiness. The 
Christ spirit of love alwa} r s strives with men and with de- 
graded spirits. Remember that disorderly spirits, still sym- 
pathetically connected with the earth, moving in your midst 
— vile wicked spirits — are capable of doing great harm to 
humanity. They can commit actual sin through easy, nega- 
tive-minded people upon earth. Changing worlds does, not 
change immediately the desires of the miser, the thief, or the 
carnally-minded. These passions and tendencies do not per- 
tain to the body — that is material, unthinking, and irrespon- 
sible. It is the spirit that thinks and wills and does through 
the body ; and it is the spirit, whether it is in the body or 
out, that is morally responsible. 

Once I saw a large company of spirits erecting a capacious 
stone building. It surprised me. I observed them until one 
story was accomplished, for they worked very rapidly. After 
it was erected I stepped into it, but found no way to ascend 
to the lofts above. Looking about I came to what I after- 
wards learned was an elevator. This was long before I 
learned about any such convenience upon earth. I am cer- 
tain, from travels and observations in the spiritual world, 
that nearly all mechanical inventions are first conceived and 
arranged in the Spirit-Land. Passing into one of the other 
lower rooms in this building, I saw a very extensive table 
covered with plates, goblets filled with pure water, dishes of 
cake beautifully frosted, and most inviting fruits ; and here 
were hundreds of spirits partaking of the luscious viands. 
At one of my visits in the land of soul life I met Elder John 



THE FRIENDS AND SHAKERS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 167 

Lyon. He said he had started to attend a conference at the 
Congress House of Justice. I said, Can I go in? He re- 
plied : " A large collection are assembled for the purpose of 
helping the government. We hope to influence the people 
against war, and purge the nation from political dishonesty 
and unrighteousness." 

At one time, while traveling in spirit life, attended by my 
angelic teacher, I met a company going on a pleasure excur- 
sion, to take a sail, they said, on Lake Pleasant ; they invited 
me to join them, which I did. This lake was in oval form, 
and had upon its banks waving trees and overhanging vines. 
The sail of itself was delightful, but was intensified by music, 
song, and holy words of wisdom. After this we took a wind- 
ing road up a mountain path to a lovely park dotted with 
fruit-trees, and interlaced with delightful paths, and the 
whole encircled by a high wall overhung with ivy and cluster- 
ing vines. Here the party engaged for a little time in reli- 
gious worship. Near a magnificent building in this park stood 
a stately tree, whose leaves were as shining as silver and gold, 
and I was told they represented the first and second appear- 
ing of Christ. One apartment in this building was devoted 
to the education of foreign spirits, another to the considera- 
tion of spiritual gifts, and how to make them the most effect- 
ual among the children of men. Over the archway leading 
from this room was the sentence, written seemingly in golden 
letters, " Holiness to the Lord." 

In concluding these descriptions of spirit life and heavenly 
orders, I must say, in humility of spirit, that I have utterly 
failed to do the subject justice. The most gifted tongue of 
earth cannot describe the angel homes of the beautiful and 
the worthy. The spirit world is to me the real world. If I 
know that mortals exist, so do I know that our loved ones 
exist in heaven. I have walked and talked with them, and, 
like the apostle of old, I hardly know at times whether I am 
in the body or out. And oh how my soul burns to teach and 
impress mortals to be good and pure and Christ-like — to 



168 IMMORTALITY. 

" overcome," that they may inherit and have access to the 
tree of life. 

Visions and Spiritual Experiences through the Mediumship of 
Eunice Bathrick, a Shaker Eldress. 

I am now in the sere of life, and as my earthly career 
is drawing to a close, I rejoice to say that invisible agencies 
have supported me all through these changing years up to 
the present time. I have felt the companionship of spirits, 
as though they were tangible to the physical touch ; I have 
seen them as distinctly as I see things with my natural eyes. 
I have frequently conversed with them audibly, and though 
I heard no external response, the answer, in some unexplain- 
able wajr, was intelligently echoed to my interior conscious- 
ness. I have been informed of, and prophesied of events be- 
fore their occurrence, and have been turned from the course 
I was pursuing, where dangers awaited me, by loving, minis- 
tering spirits. I have heard angelic voices, have been patted 
upon the shoulder when in the room by myself; have listened 
to heavy footsteps, so heavy as to seemingly jar the floor, the 
ground, and the forest through which I was walking. 

Listening to the songs of angel hosts, I have committed 
them to writing. Sitting quietly alone at twilight, I have 
sung under the inspiration of angels one new song after an- 
other, till they numbered scores ; and they were joined in 
aim and purpose like intertwining links in a golden chain. 
It is impossible for me to find language to describe the land- 
scapes that I have seen in vision ; their verdure, their velvety 
lawns, their crystal streams, and musical birds, almost over- 
came me with a joy and a love for God and his creatures. 
On some of these green lawns were lofty trees, with delicate 
vines, climbing over and clinging to the branches, bear- 
ing transparent fruit resembling clusters of grapes. Walk- 
ing on these lawns, among these groves, and in the alcoves, 
were children dressed in white, with teachers instructing 
them. The pure and beautiful angels seemed to have no 
fixed abode, but roamed at will through elysian fields, while 



THE FRIENDS AND SHAKERS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 169 

the darker spirits seemed confined to given localities ; and the 
atmosphere in which they moved appeared to me hazy and 
gloomy. There were no green fields, no fragrant flowers, 
and no dancing fountains, to cheer their desolate abode. 
These were shown to me for lessons of instruction. The 
places where some good spirits were conducted, after leaving 
their bodies, appeared to me like the outer court of a magni- 
ficent building, with architectural beauty surpassing all earthly 
workmanship. Their walls were festooned with vines and 
flowers, and hung with paintings symbolizing sacred scenes in 
the Scriptures, and the lives of good and pure men and 
women. 

At one time I saw, in vision, public worship held among 
spirits. The building stood facing the south, with a sloping, 
undulating plain, I should judge, a mile in length, at the 
extremity of which was a dense forest, through which mur- 
mured a winding river, with banks fringed with delicate 
mosses. All of the surroundings tended to promote contem- 
plation, and a prayerful mood of mind. The extensive and 
symmetrical building for worship was of pure white, and, as 
far as I could see, without the least ornament. It was clearly 
constructed for worship, and not for the display of pride. I 
did not enter the structure, but the two doors facing the 
south stood open, as they had been left by the assembled 
throng. Before approaching so near, and while standing in 
meditation, I saw the brethren and sisters — angels they 
were — go forth in the march and the dance. I saw them 
pass the windows, arranged in white transparent robes, as 
they moved like seraphs to the#heavenly music. It seemed 
to me as though I was at the very gates of the City Celestial, 
the home of the New Jerusalem, and was about to join in the 
song of the hundred and forty-four thousand. In that heav- 
enly world — for I seemed to be there — I was pained when 
told by my guardian angel, that I must return again to the 
material world ; and now I only desire to stay upon earth, that 
I may do good and help poor mortal souls to rise into the res- 
urrection-life, where alone is found peace and true happiness. 



170 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Spirit Voices from Australia, and Prophecies from Cape Town, 
Africa. The Spirit Some of the Martyr Giordano Bruno, 
through the Mediumship of Thomas Walker. 

" And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those 
who were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. . . . And 
white robes were given unto every one of them." John the Reyelator. 

Situated on a beautiful hill, Pure Love City overlooks the 
Valley of Wisdom and Pilgrimage Plains. Angel Lake is in 
the front grounds. In the distance rolls Sunshine River, fall- 
ing into Angel Lake. Isis Pier stretches out into the lake, 
and being built of living flowers, covered with translucent 
down, it is as useful as beautiful. At the foot of the hill, 
and dividing the valley of Wisdom into two portions, a rip- 
pling and romantic brook curls along towards the lake, and — 
pardon our liberties — since forming your acquaintance, and 
in honor of your missionary labors for the furtherance of spir- 
itual knowledge, we now call it Peebles' Brook. 

Among the leading features of our city is a massive muse- 
um, Music Temple, and Poets' Dome. The museum occupies 
a commanding position upon the summit of a table-land prom- 
ontory. It is an ancient swuctnre, having been built, fur- 
nished, and ornamented by the united efforts of- Pythagoras, 
Socrates, Plato, Lautsze, Confucius, Jesus, Euclid, Democri- 
tus, Empedicles, Homer, Ptolemy, Pliny, Heplexon — a Greek 
reformer, whose works were destroyed at the burning of the 
Alexandrian Library — and a number of others interested in 
the dissemination of true science, refined literature, and reli- 
gious truth. Its erection and the subsequent influences of 
those either dwelling in or frequenting it, were the causes of 



SPIETT VOICES AND PPOPHECTES. 171 

all the religious reformations that have dawned upon the earth 
for the past few centuries. The noted seer Swedenborg lias 
a prominent position as teacher of spiritual analogy in one de- 
partment of the building. We are now expecting a visit from 
that exalted seer of Patmos, St. John. Countless throngs will 
flock to see and hear his saintly words of wisdom. 

I have charge, at present, of the " infirm " and " deranged " 
department, where imbeciles, the spiritually deformed, and 
the imperfectly balanced spirits, rendered so by the condi- 
tions of earth life, are received, cared for, and healed. The 
ancient spirits above mentioned seldom visit the city, because 
having other homes and far more exalted duties to perform. 

In this sphere of existence the arts and sciences attain a 
very high perfection. It is a great center of learning and 
progress. Here metaphysicians meet to study the soul, and 
converse of its infinite capacities. The museum lias been de- 
nominated " Curiosity Museum," because one of its founders, 
Lucretius, in company with Solon, out of curiosity, and for the 
benefit of the patrons of the museum, traversed the electrical 
currents on the Pacific Ocean, on a voyage of exploration, to 
gather information respecting the long, wave-covered New 
Atlantis, described by ancient Hindoo, Egyptian, and Grecian 
writers. 

My personal home, known as " Balmy Cot," is a very com- 
fortable dwelling, at the foot of Chastity Hill, and a little dis- 
tance from the shore, where balmy spiritual breezes refresh 
the contemplative soul. It commands a good view of the 
city, and stands opposite the magnificent museum. It is my 
home, because I personally gravitate to it. Others, in sym- 
pathy with me, gravitate to, and construct their homes, and 
we "have all things in common," because "we love the 
brethren" — and hence the name, " Pure Love City." As 
I develop higher in the golden future, I shall leave this home, 
and exchange it for a purer and holier one, left vacant by the 
glorious unfoldments of its latest occupants. Hugh Latimer 
will be my next successor. He is now a devoted student in 
the museum. The interior of my home is attractive, love il- 



172 IMMORTALITY. 

lumined, chastely decorated, and seraphim-frequented. The 
holiest angels and seraphs have lofty ideals, stretching on into 
the ineffable and the unattainable. 

Though exerting a general influence upon mortals, I sel- 
dom visit the earth in person ; and then to give directions to 
the active controls of this medium, and to give counsel in the 
development of other mediums. At some future time I will 
describe to you the martyr's death, which I suffered in Rome ; 
and I feel safe in promising to return oftener than in the past, 
as your atmosphere facilitates a work that needs to be done. 

Spirit Experiences and Teachings ; through the Mediumship 
of S. T. Mar chant, Cape Town, South Africa. 

When an inhabitant of earth I was a student and teacher 
of divinity. I am still employed in teaching ; but upon en- 
tering the higher existence, I was soon compelled to modify 
my theological views. This caused me quite a struggle, for I 
was inclined to be persistent. In changing worlds I did not 
completely lose my consciousness. This is not the case with 
those who suffer from disasters. Spirit life is so much like 
life upon earth, that some hardly know they have made the 
change. I found a place, or, perhaps better expressed, a home 
prepared for me, when passing into the new state of existence. 
My garments were also prepared, and they corresponded with 
my taste, and, I afterwards learned, with my moral status. . . . 
Yes, I have frequently seen spirits whose habitations were 
upon other planets ; they are sometimes sent to your earth as 
messengers. I remember of recently seeing a messenger spirit 
from the planet Jupiter. He was enveloped in a mist, like a 
cloud of gold, and moved, so it seemed to me, with the swift- 
ness of lightning — the long, flowing hair floating behind him. 
This aromal, gauze-like cloud completely encircled him, re- 
vealing a being of radiant loveliness. My spirit teacher said 
that he was the " Angel of Beneficence." 

The higher intelligences of other planets have always ex- 
ercised more or less influence upon your earth. The plan- 
ets themselves are more potent in their effects upon your 



SPIRIT VOICES AND PROPHECIES. 173 

world than mortals generally imagine. When astronomy and 
judicial astrology are better comprehended, the mysteries of 
life, birth, health, and intellectual development will be far 
better understood. This medium is now under the influence 
of Saturn — seventh house; but will shortly come under the 
peculiar influences of Pallas — the first house. The conjunc- 
tion of certain planets has much to do with the matter and 
also the minds upon your earth. . The medium, however, has 
no faith in these astrological teachings, hence it is difficult for 
us to fully project our ideas into and through his organism. 

As to the existence of birds, animals, and noisome 

insects, I feel it difficult to express realities upon this sub- 
ject as I find them. I have never seen stinging insects 
and loathsome serpents in our state of existence. I think 
they subserved their uses in the material world that you now 
inhabit. Of course there is no annihilation ; the universe 
knows no absolute loss. Accordingly, the animals and in- 
sects of your plane, having no aspirations for immortality, die ; 
the grosser portion of them going to enrich the soil, while the 
spiritual part enters into and is absorbed in the great vortex 
of spirit essences. And jet we have often seen subjective 
appearances of animal and bird life attendant upon immortal 
spirits. Nevertheless, those who have dwelt much longer, 
and occupy higher positions in spirit life, teach that all types 
and germs are immortal ; and from them J gather that the 
graceful animals that tread, and the beautiful plumagecl birds 
that make music in the evergreen groves, are indigenous to, 
and the outbirths of, the higher spheres in which they ap- 
pear. . . . 

Q. What is to be the future of Africa in the world's history ? 

A. This is a momentous subject, demanding careful con- 
sideration. The history of this country, with her Lost Arts, 
was long since buried in forgetfulness. In remote antiquity, 
hidden under the dust of ages, Central Africa was the garden 
of the world. The Sanscrit language, the pride of ancient 
India, was begotten and saw its palmiest days near the foun- 
tains of the Nile. Why, then, has the lion so long borne the 



174 IMMORTALITY. 

curse of degradation? Why should the dark stain remain 
upon one of the fairest portions of God's universe? Why 
such a long night after such a glorious noonday ? After the 
night cometh the morning. Ethiopia shall yet again stretch 
forth her hands to God. The baptism of tire is now upon 
her. After the clangor of wars and warfare comes peace and 
prosperity. . . . Ancient America was the Alpha of earth's 
humanity, Asia the Beta, while to Europe has been allotted 
the fiery work of scourging and purification. But, in the 
dawning cycle, to Africa shall be given the full unfolding of 
that flower whose grateful fragrance shall fill the whole earth, 
and whose mellifluous melodies shall add to the harmonies. 

The Spirit Home and Surroundings of Edgar Athcling, as seen 
clairvoyantly by Alfred DeaJcin of Australia. 
Situated in the midst of a very beautiful country, his resi- 
dence gleams brightly in the distance from out a dark setting 
of green forest and purple sea. The character of the space 
seen is hilly, rising to a ridge of mountain peaks, whose lofti- 
ness was apparently snow-capped, rocky, and above the vege- 
tation thickly covering its flanks. The direction was north- 
ward, and the chain of pointed and jagged elevations was 
then lying to the southeast. As far as my vision extended 
the surface of the land was diversified by trees and magnifi- 
cent foliage, the undulations often abrupt, and sometimes pre- 
cipitous. The atmosphere was of a brilliant lucidity and soft- 
ness, the coloring of the sward and copses standing out in 
fine relief; the sky of an inexpressible tenderness overarch- 
ing it with a wealth of sunny blue. The contour of the 
whole was magnificently wild and grand.' A rugged coast, 
and cliffs washed by the sea in almost living ecstasy of mo- 
tion, bounding it to the east and north : while toward the 
west I had the sensation of life, and in that direction seemed 
to sense the presence, and abiding places in cities, of spirits 
upon the same plane. The scene was of immense extent, 
probably some sixty square miles, lying around the building, 
which was evidently one of great splendor, approached by 






SPIRIT VOICES AND PROPHECIES. 175 

exquisite gardens on two sides, and with the sea close to 
it on a third. It was in shape like a gigantic magnet, or 
horseshoe, of one very lofty story. 

The material of which it was composed seemed of varie- 
gated or changeful color, in many places milk-white, and in 
others of golden hue. Mother-of-pearl is the only substance 
I can liken it to, and I fancy from the proximity of the ocean 
that this might be obtained from thence. 

The architecture was strange but very imposing, and as if 
music in some inexplicable way was wrought into the facades 
and woven over its porticoes. Domes, towers, and minarets, 
were among its decorations, which like the vegetation par- 
took of an Oriental tinge. The interior consisted of halls, 
corridors, and smaller apartments; but there were some of 
these squared, in every case the angles being rounded off or 
concealed. I felt an atmosphere, as it were, of education and 
refinement proceeding from it, and grew dimly conscious of a 
great number of dwellers therein, busied in intellectual em- 
ployments, and the cultivation of spiritual gifts. Different 
portions of the edifice were set apart for different branches of 
study. In one portion I perceived an immense library. The 
forms of the volumes were almost exactly like those we are 
familiar with, while others, which I perceived, differed only 
in minor particulars. Some of them evidently were of very 
ancient origin. The contents I could only analyze by the 
influence proceeding from them, which was invariably of 
an inspiring nature. I saw many most beautiful vases, in 
which were growing plants of delicate odor and refreshing 
beauty. Flowers were not only in perfume without, but 
were in every part, and in almost every chamber. I could 
not estimate the rooms or inhabitants of this vast seminary, 
which must excel, I think, in size as well as grandeur, every 
earthly real and ideal. My guide is one of the band of 
teachers occupying it, and engaged in the inculcation of spir- 
itual truth to those who have already passed through the disci- 
pline of the dark spheres and require information upon the 



176 IMMORTALITY. 

larger aspects and duties of the higher life, to souls whose 
boundary henceforth is only in the solar system. 

A crescent contracted may convey a better idea of the gen- 
eral appearance of the extraordinary structure I am powerless 
to adequately describe. Between the points or arms of the 
horseshoe is a most exquisite enclosure of lovely flowers. 
Numerous doors open upon it, and being above the level, are 
connected with it by steps. In the windows is something re- 
sembling glass, apparently stained, of many shades and with 
unique figures painted upon it. A kind of balcony overlooks 
the sea, supported, as are many other such around the build- 
ing, upon light, graceful pillars. Many places here I cannot 
describe, as they are utterly unlike anything of earth. There 
do not seem to be any places set apart for sleeping or eating ; 
the first being to them but as a dreamy reverie, and their sus- 
tenance chiefly derived from inhalation, of which the refuse 
is cast off through the pores of the skin by insensible excre- 
tion. The chairs are more of the character of lounges and 
couches than aught else I can compare them to. In all these 
spheres I see men and women working out their salvation 
under the direction of more exalted intelligences. Their 
dress is usually a flowing and graceful garb, in no way im- 
peding the activity of the limbs, is rich and pure. As they 
approach that portion of what I have called the mother-of- 
pearl^ it reflects the peculiar radiance from the aura of each, 
and this occasions the changefulness which I at first appre- 
hended in its tints. Just between the poles of the magnet 
is a great statue, carved in what appears to be marble. It 
represents a warrior who with one hand is shading his eyes, in 
the other grasps a sword, his whole frame poised forward as 
if for a spring upon some foe ; while from between his feet a 
superb eagle is spreading his wings to soar away. Farther in, 
between the arms of the horseshoe, another : a woman reclin- 
ing and holding a globe, which she intently regards. I think 
it symbolizes one of the planets. Scattered throughout all 
the grounds are other sculptures of marvelous power and 
beauty. A great gallery of paintings contains a picture of a 



SPIRIT VOICES AND PROPHECIES. 177 

storm at sea ; another of a conflagration ; but beyond the bare, 
outlines of the subjects I could not see anything, while I felt 
that it was idle to endeavor to obtain their meaning. In the 
woods there are birds of bright plumage and enchanting song. 
In the streams and adjoining sea are fish, sporting in their 
element. There are halls here filled with antiquities; and 
something like a tall majestic pyramid peers up in the dis- 
tance. The pervading quality of all is that of peace and hap- 
piness of noble souls who, in intellectual exercises and reli- 
gious faith, pursue their aspirations in pure lives of angel 
ministry to one another, and to mortal worlds. 

This is but a slight sketch and imperfect description of the 
glories of the angels' homes, among which is that of the gen- 
erous and gracious spirit who has made my feeble faculties 
his own, by untiring charities of an unbounded affection. 
His abode is worthy of himself. Both are heavenly. These 
glimpses are emblematic rather than actual, and of promise 
more than fulfillment. If at any future day I be led by 
that clearest of teachers nearer to himself and it, I will then 
essay to outline more completely that which has touched my 
eyes and heart, but not my tongue. The rest is silence. 

Rev. John Stewart's Home in Spirit Life, through Thomas 
Walker, Medium. 

Names with us have a spiritual significance. Rising gently 
out of Angel Lake is Charity Island, the abode of congenial 
spirits, who take special delight in the exercise of their sym- 
pathetic and devotional natures. It is elevated just above 
the silvery waters that ripple musically against the shores of 
the lake. Near the interior of the island, among towering 
transparent rocks, is situated my home, somewhat irregular in 
form, but adapted to my taste. 

The island is not large, yet decorated around the shores 
with a gallery of floral beauties. Some of these flowers are 
so arranged as to form a carpet of variegated tints. Away a 
little in the distance pastures spread their light green foliage, 
and orchards bear their golden fruit. Near these, in a cluster 
12 



178 IMMORTALITY. 

of trees, shaded by their foliage, is my house, seven stories in 
height. The rooms are somewhat irregular in -shape, the first 
story being in the form of an octagon, the second an irregular 
square, and so on to the seventh ending in a dome. The fur- 
niture of each room is adapted to the use we make of the 
apartment. The lower room, consecrated to educational pur- 
poses and devotional exercises, has little furniture besides 
desks and seats. The walls are decorated with creeping 
vines, the ceiling festooned with evergreens, and the windows 
are adorned with orange-colored curtains. The second story 
is for discussions and lectures upon moral subjects. Here, 
after my old habit, I have had a pulpit arranged, where I and 
other spirits oftentimes stand to discourse upon religious sub- 
jects. In the third story we meet for social enjoyment, hence 
the parallelogram shape. Sometimes there is dancing and 
marches here, though I do not myself indulge in these exer- 
cises. 

The fourth story is what we call the " Octagon of Luxury," 
because here are elegant paintings and instruments of music, 
and through the channel of music we pour out our souls' deep- 
est devotions. The fifth story is where we have our library- 
room and studio ; the sixth, where we display our choicest 
collections of art ; and the seventh is divided into rooms for 
repose ; — here we also have a magnificent observatory. 

The materials of the building differ according to the uses 
assigned to each apartment. In the rooms of recreation the 
material of the walls is of a translucent nature, and through 
them we can see all that is transpiring upon the islands. In 
the room for devotion the material is more of a staid nature, 
imprisoning us, as it were, in the atmosphere of the soul, and 
forbidding the entrance of any frivolity. The conditions lock 
out the murmuring of the fountains, the music of the lake, 
the rhythmic movement of the flowers, the attuned melody of 
the foliage, the harmonies of the island, and bring us into 
closer communion with our inmost souls and the Divine Pres- 
ence. 

We go from the lower to the upper apartments by means 



SPIRIT VOICES AND PROPHECIES. 179 

of a downy chariot, propelled mostly by the will-power, and 
which travels upon the outside of the building. Each story 
is less than the lower one, thus forming a walk enclosing the 
upper room. These walks are adorned with statues, paint- 
ings, flowers, and creeping vines. This is a description of my 
spirit home — the home of John Stewart, once a Presbyterian 
minister of England. 

Q. Did you enter this home when first leaving the earth- 
form ? 

A. No. It was only after growth and advancement. Then 
I was taken by a band of spirits and introduced to two others, 
who were in this house, and told that this should be my home 
until I was fitted for a higher and better. 

Q. Who erected this residence ? 

A. I cannot tell who first built it, as it had been in prepara- 
tion for ages, each occupant doing something to beautify it, 
and thus leaving his lasting impress upon it. This should be 
an incentive to true and pure living upon earth. Jesus un- 
doubtedly referred to a heavenly residence when he said, " I 
go to prepare a place for you." 

Q. Is marriage perpetual in the spheres ? 

A. Not exactly in the arbitrary sense in which you under- 
stand it upon earth ; and yet I have my once earthly wife. 
If on earth you are wisely fitted for each other, and pro- 
gressed together, you will naturally turn to her who on earth 
was more than friend. Spiritual love reaches out to an oppo- 
site here much as it does upon earth. Here in our island 
home we yearn for social enjoyment, for the divine blending 
of opposite souls; and whilst we love humanity, and can lov- 
ingly smile upon all", we nevertheless turn in this sphere each 
and all to their soul-mates. Other spheres doubtless have 
different experiences. With us there is no lust. The Christ 
spirit of purity has overcome the Adam in our natures. We 
walk in the resurrection life of a love that is pure and heav- 
enly. Whether this condition will remain eternal, blooming 
out from the special into the universal, I have no means of 



180 IMMOETALITY. 

knowing, and theorizing upon the subject seems to me a use- 
less waste of time. 

Q. Are there not spirits who never found a marital mate, 
and are yet happy ? 

A. Yes, most certainty ! Bruno, the distinguished martyr, 
resides with other noble souls on Celibate Hill, and is ex- 
quisitely happy, married to the universe of great, beating, 
loving souls. ... I wear white flowing robes and long flow- 
ing hair. At our public meetings there is a general invitation 
given. We live in what you would term a communhy, and 
do not generally say " my home," but " our home." Upon 
entering this new home I was introduced by a Swedenborgian 
divine, known on earth by the name of Noble. One of the 
residents of this home was the philosopher of earth named 
Bacon. It should be remembered by the children of men 
that it is not so much intellect on earth as goodness, purity, 
and self-sacrifice, that prepares the soul for the homes of the 
blest. 

Q. Why is the lowest story in your residence used for de- 
votional exercises? 

A. Because it is in keeping with the gravity required as a 
basis; and further, all future progression must have prayer 
and religious culture for its foundation. . . . Symbols' are im- 
pressive as well as the supporting pillars of truth. In our 
library are precious manuscripts from nations now forgotten 
upon your earth ; also a large variety of volumes both ancient 
and modern. These are not obtained by the merely will- 
power; if so, we might possibly will from Omnipotence His 
knowledge. We obtain them by applying to the authors, or 
to those who possess copies. I have not only many religious 
volumes of the past in my library, but the books of the most 
prominent spiritualists. . . . Life with us is a perpetual lux- 
ury. We partake of delicious fruits ; but in a higher sense, 
perhaps, it may be said that every pore of the spirit body 
has a mouth, and this might be called subsistence by the 
spiritual law of assimilation. ... If the life on earth was 
moral and harmonious, the change from sphere to sphere is 



SPIBTT VOICES AND PROPHECIES. 181 

gradual and delightful ; but if on earth the life was selfish 
and vile, then in passing from the second to a higher sphere 
the individual experiences something akin to a " second death " 
— a death of suffering. " Blessed are those over whom the 
second death hath no power." 

Questions answered through the 31ediumship of Mrs. Maria M. 
King, of Hammonton, N. </!, addressed to the Spirit controlling 
in her Public Teachings. 

Q. About how long have you been in the land of spirits ? 

A. My experience of spirit life has been sufficiently long 
and varied to entitle me to the place of teacher through one 
of our accepted media ; therefore be pleased to accept the 
answers I shall give to } r our questions for what they are 
worth, without reference to the years I have numbered as a 
spirit. 

Q. In the process of what we term death, were you uncon- 
scious ? 

A. I was unconscious while the process of spirit birth was 
in progress — that is, while the organized spirit body was es- 
caping from its prison-house of flesh. The period of dream- 
less slumber was brief in my case, age having prepared my 
spirit for an easy r exit from the body. 

Q. Have }~ou a localized spirit home ; and if so, is it within 
the atmosphere of our earth ? 

A. I have a beautiful spirit home, as precious and as neces- 
sary to me as is theirs to them of any of earth's toilers who 
lay the burden of their daily labor outside the threshold of 
" home, sweet home," and in the bosom of affection briefly 
forget the struggle for existence, and find that rest indispen- 
sable to continued effort. My house is my paradise, wherein 
I revel in the delights of love and friendship ; it is my ark of 
refuge from the toils incident to a busy life, while at the same 
time it is a sanctuary wherein I devote myself to studies re- 
quiring most intense application and freedom from disturbing 
influences. 

The temple wherein the dove of sacred inspiration descends 



182 IMMORTALITY. 

most freely upon me is the secluded sanctum in my own 
home. Here I am most free from the disturbing influences of 
other minds. Its location is beyond the earth, beyond the 
solar system, in a vast aromal belt called the Second Sphere. 

Q. If that home corresponds to what we call a house or 
palace, did you construct it yourself? 

A. My house corresponds with what you call a dwelling, 
with its necessary surroundings. The labor of the hands, di- 
rected by cultivated taste and skill — intelligent " will-power " 
— were brought into requisition for its construction. I as- 
sisted in the building. Co-operation is the rule with us in 
such labors. 

Q. Can you traverse the spaces to other planets? 

A. I traverse the interstellar spaces in company with those 
who, like myself, are on errands connected with their studies. 
We make a pathway for ourselves as we go by condensing 
the rarefied magnetic ethers that are everywhere in space. 

Q. What estimate do spirits of your plane put upon Jesus 
of Nazareth? 

A. We hold Jesus to have been a man born a seer, a 
prophet, endowed with remarkable mediumistic gifts, which 
were improved by development — by the operation of " the 
spirit " or spirits. . . . He was misunderstood by his imme- 
diate followers as being something superior to man, and his 
deeds were exaggerated by their unreasoning credulity. Ele- 
vated above the multitude by his superior spirituality, he was 
qualified to be a teacher of the sublime inspirations which 
flowed into his receptive mind from wise and pure angels, 
who made him their mouthpiece to the masses. . . . Pure 
and spiritual in his life, he was prepared for rapid progress as 
a spirit ; and now, with other ancient prophets and exalted 
men, he holds a place among celestial spirits, having expe- 
rienced his second spiritual birth, and become a dweller in 
the third sphere. 

Q. Are the birds and animals, if existing in your sphere, 
the outbirth of and indigenous to that sphere, or are they 
veritable individualized forms of our earth ? 






spip.it voices and prophecies. 183 

A. Your questions each suggest a chapter of principles for 
their proper elucidation. But briefly, animals of the highest 
orders only have an existence in this sphere, the life essences 
of such only gravitating to this plane. Animals regain a 
brief existence on the spirit plane, after having lost it on the 
passage thither, in the current of magnetic life, whose attrac- 
tions and repulsions are too strong for imperfect organizations 
to resist and retain their individuality. The reawakening of 
an animal to conscious life on the higher plane is the reor- 
ganization of the elements of the being, which have been 
severed, but which gravitate together naturally when no su- 
perior force intervenes to hinder. This sphere is enlivened 
by animal life as a necessity of infantile man. Law ordains 
it to be so. But man rules all elements of the sphere as he 
increases in power and wisdom. He will finally divert to his 
own use all elements and forces, and become able to people 
his realm with animal forms of his own creation ; or, accord- 
ing to his pleasure, divert to other uses the essences suited to 
this purpose. 

Q. What, in your opinion, is the endless destiny of the 
conscious soul? 

A. u The soul, immortal as its Sire, can never die." 

" God breathed into man the breath of life, and he became 
a living soul." 

How expressive this language ! The spirit of man as an 
emanation of Deity necessarily inherits the nature and the im- 
mortality of its " Sire," being formed in his image as the child 
of the parent — that is, being an entity organized in harmony 
with eternal principles. 



184 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 

A Sailor's Sad Story, through the Mediumship of Peter 
Sterling, of Melbourne, Australia. 

Invited to spend an evening at the charming residence of 
Miss Ricketts, West Melbourne, Australia, I found myself 
in a quiet spiritual seance. Very soon, Mrs. Sterling, one of 
the ladies present, becoming entranced, gave me, among other 
unexpected tests, a description of an adopted child, Louis, 
also of three immortal buds of our own, transplanted to the 
gardens of God ere a breath or stain had tarnished their stain- 
less souls. 

Sitting in the circle and quietly musing, a strange impression 
seized me to take the hand of Mrs. Sterling's son, and magnet- 
ically assist a spirit in taking possession of him. I did not 
yield to the impression till it became almost potent enough to 
be pronounced a voice. I have an utter abhorrence of palm- 
ing off for spirit impressions what I feel may be my own. 
Obeying the impression at last, however, and taking the hand 
of the young man in mine, placing my thumb upon the ulnar 
nerve, he became tremulous, and then spasmodic, reeling like 
a sailor. But the controlling influence failed to speak. Dur- 
ing a subsequent session this sailor spirit uttered a few rough 
sentences. At the fifth sitting he talked quite fluently, though 
in the idiom of the sea and the sailor. He was an utter 
stranger to us all, save the young man through whom he was 
attempting a communication. His story was a most pitiful 
one. Condensed, it was briefly this : — Himself and this 
young man, Mr. Sterling, were most intimate friends, boon- 
companions, sailing among the East India Isles. These are 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 185 

the regions of occasional cyclones ; and daring one of these 
terrific hurricanes, or whirling storms, and while this English 
sailor was trying to fasten Peter to the main-mast, that he 
might not be washed overboard, a rolling wave struck the 
young Englishman, and hurled him into the depths of the 
mad waves. Peter, the medium he was now seeking to con- 
trol, after nearly losing his life, reached the harbor safelv, and 
at length his home ; but the young Englishman, a jolly, world- 
ly, unspiritual sailor, loving Peter intensely, had gone down, 
the body at least, among the green sea-weeds of the deep ! 
Obtaining control of the medium, through my psychological 
assistance, he gave his experience, his hopes, and aims in spirit 
life, in nearly the following words : 

" I was trying to fix Peter, this medium, safely, when an 
awful wave swept me off from the deck. I went overboard 
headlong down into the deep waters. I do not remember my 
struggles. Sharks must have eaten mv body. I knew nothing: 
for a while, but can give you no correct idea how long I was 
unconscious. When I came to myself I could not understand 
it. I was alive, I was myself, I was alone, I was dazed, I was 
in space, and yet in stifling darkness. Oh, God, how I suf- 
fered ! No light, no heaven, no home, no Peter, no Peter ! 
But a spirit, once a sailor, yet now alone in space, and that 
space darkness ! I did not know where to go or what to do. 
Talk about fire and brimstone ! Oh, skipper, [this was a 
sailor term for a captain. He was now applying it to the 
writer, because he had supervised and aided him in control- 
ling his friend Peter,] you have no conception of my condi- 
tion. I wept, I wildly wondered and prayed, and while pray- 
ing I saw a flashing gleam of light. It inspired hope ; it 
seemed to move nearer to me, and proved to be this medium's 
spirit brother. He saw my confusion, and speaking kindly, 
took me to this medium — you call him Peter. We were more 
than friends. What one had we both had. I was the oldest; 
and now, helped by his spirit brother, I had got to him again, 
and I clung right to him ; but I was not happy. I followed 
him everywhere he went, and, strange as it seemed to me, 



186 IMMORTALITY. 

though I could turn his mind in this direction or that, I could 
not make him know that I was present with him. Oh, how 
I thank you for helping me to get this influence over him ; 
and how I thank the good lady of this house for asking you 
all to come ! 

" Write to my parents and tell them I shall never return to 
them again in my body — the fish have eaten that. They 
weep. Tell them not to mourn. Jack, their sailor son, is not 
so bad off as he might be. But I am not happy. No, oh, no ! 
I am miserable." 

Here the spirit wept profusely, through the organism of the 
medium. I said to him kindly : "Do not weep ; we are your 
friends. Look up prayerfully to God and the good angels, and 
you will see bright and beautiful spirits." At this he ex- 
claimed : 

"I see them ! oh, I do see them ! They can take me to 
them, but they will not. They stand and look at me. I'm 
not worthy. I am unhappy and miserable. They tell me I 
have got to work my way up to them. All they can do is to 
help me ; and I want you all to help me." 

Turning to the medium's mother he said : " I want to call you 
my mother, and I want this medium, Peter, for my younger 
brother. I want to claim these ladies for my sisters. And 
you, skipper, have been an angel to me ; j'ou've helped me, 
and I'm going to help this Indian spirit by you — Old Feathers 
I call him — to take care of you on your vo}~age home. Here, 
skipper, give us your hand ! This is the sailor's grip. Sailors 
are not hypocrites, they mean what they say ; and by this grip 
I pledge my word to go with you on the waters to your home, 
wherever it may be. If there comes a storm, call on me ; I 
know the ropes ! You will not be sea-sick, or have any acci- 
dent. Old Feathers and I have looked at the steamship you 
are going on, and we know the berth that you are to occupy. 
Old Feathers impressed you to take it, and he has since been 
magnetizing it, but what for I don't know. Look to him on 
land, but look to the blue-jacket on the ocean. Sailors have 
hearts ; they do not forget favors, but stand by those who help 
them." 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 187 

This occurrence transpired just before my sailing from Aus- 
tralia for Ceylon, on my way to India, South Africa, and Eng- 
land, homeward. This sailor, rough as the unpolished dia- 
mond, yet frank, naturally truthful, and good-hearted, was on 
his way to the serener light of heaven, and, in justice to him, 
I must say that, considering the stormy passages by sea, I 
suffered nothing from sea-sickness, incident to all m}~ previous 
voyages, neither was I overtaken by an}* accident. When the 
weather was rough, I was vividly conscious of this sailor's 
presence ; and there is not a lingering doubt in my mind but 
that he sacredly fulfilled his promise, accompanying me to my 
American home. 

Often, after my departure, and while on ship-board, my 
friends in Australia held their accustomed sittings, and calling 
for the sailor spirit to influence Peter, he did not announce his 
presence ; but at subsequent sittings, and while I was upon 
the land in Ceylon or South Africa, he would visit the circle, 
and give them information that I was then disembarked and 
doing my work on shore. 

Miss Ricketts published in the Harbinger of Lights remark- 
able test, relating to a missing letter directed to Mr. Ster- 
ling. This sailor spirit directed Peter to go to Flinder's 
Lane and find a Mr. Smith, for he had a letter for him from 
the skipper. Mr. Sterling, whom the sailor spirit familiarly 
calls Peter, seriously doubted it, but determined to test the 
truthfulness of Jack, and accordingly went to the place desig- 
nated, and, quite to his surprise, found the foretold letter. 
This spirit has proved himself, though uncultured, to be emi- 
nently truthful and trustworthy. 

" Strolling Player" a Spirit controlling J. J. 3£orse, London. 

Q. I wish you to describe minutely your spirit home, and 
state whether it is within the atmosphere of our earth, with 
other matters which you think will be interesting and profita- 
ble to us ? 

A. While the homes of multitudes are about and within 
the atmosphere of your earth, mine is beyond it, and, in loca- 



188 IMMORTALITY. 

tion, nearly parallel with its equatorial regions. It is sur- 
rounded by a pleasant stretch of country, with an undulating 
plain rising some distance from my house. My residence is 
near the margin of a large lake, by the side of a high moun- 
tain range, the ascent being gradual, broken here and there 
by evergreen hills. The grounds are sheltered by ornamental 
trees, planted there a long time since by ancestors of mine, 
who have migrated from their home, bequeathing it to the 
next comer ; it was thus presented to me, and I, in my turn, 
will probably bequeath it to some one else. In the adjoining 
shrubbery are a series of delightful walks, and winding 
through them is a little stream, silvery bright in appearance, 
and spanned by light bridges of trellis-work, of a material 
not unlike that of mother-of-pearl. Within the retreats are 
quiet grottoes, formed by the flexible shrubs and fragrant flow- 
ers. These grottoes, or alcoves, serve a useful purpose, for 
they are so many places for schools, and abound mostly in 
those parts frequented by my spirit companion, whose mis- 
sion is the education and training of orphan children. These 
orphan children are not those who belonged to the truly mar- 
ried, but those of the unspiritually married on earth. These 
little ones are trained by my companion in the principles and 
graces which were not originally imparted and instilled into 
them. . . . Approaching the old residence from the alcoves, 
a broad lawn rises in front of the glorious edifice, and running 
round this are balconies, which give access to the upper 
apartments*. On one side of the building are my apartments, 
on the other side those of my companion. At one end of the 
building is a room — mine — especially consecrated to myself : 
my inner sanctum, devoted to meditation and reflection upon 
the gravest questions of the hour and age. Towards the hall- 
way is another apartment, devoted to the interchange of visits. 
Here we discuss and talk, and exchange our sympathies one 
with another. .Still nearer to the hall there is another 
apartment, devoted to the reception of our personal and most 
intimate friends. My own sanctum contains no useless orna- 
mentation, partaking more of art. Some claim that art is 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 189 

cold and cheerless. If disposed, they could thus fault my 
apartment; but to me it is absolutely inviting, being filled 
with books, scrolls, and unique curiosities, which I have col- 
lected in traveling through the spirit spheres; and in one 
case I became possessed of the history and the associations 
of a brotherhood with which I am connected — the "Bril- 
liant Cross." The next room is furnished in a magnificent 
style, profuse in flowers, and having several small fountains. 
The birds fill the air with their enchanting songs, and the 
flowers load the atmosphere with their fragrance. Here we 
invite ancient spirits to meet with us. 

The general apartment is furnished with all sorts of instru- 
ments for experimental investigation. There are books for 
the studious, and rare objects of interest for the curious. 
There is one apartment for the inspiration of poetic thought. 
Here is an immense number of poetical compositions; and 
here this class of minds meet to discuss their merits. In an 
apartment of the ground-floor is my congenial companion's holy 
of holies, inaccessible save to the owner. It is devoted to 
her peculiar studies and meditations. Here she indulges her 
taste in the composition of music, poetry, painting, and other 
pleasant occupations. In the rear of this apartment is a 
museum, filled with books, relics, and revelations relating to 
the histories, present and past, of the genesis of the children 
we have had under our charge. We are collecting these 
items for a special work, which may be given to the world at 
some future time ; for it is among our purposes to trace out 
every aim and action of the earthly life in the development 
of the conscious soul. In the center of the museum is a 
fountain of musical waters. The roof is domed, and has a 
blue ground, with golden stars upon it. There is an aperture 
in the center, covered by a transparent material, and deco- 
rated with blue stars, upon the groundwork of which is this 
motto : " For others that which we wish for ourselves." 

In the upper apartment is a wing, consisting of a large 
hall, capable of accommodating about seven hundred. Here 
the children often assemble to engage in various exercises, 



190 IMMOBTALITY. 

and where we listen to the expression of their hopes and 
purposes. The decorations and influences of this room are 
adapted to the mental culture and harmonial development of 
these orphan children that we so delight to instruct. Often 
we teach in the open air, that is, in the alcoves I before re- 
ferred to, assisted occasionally by those who have attained to 
greater wisdom than ourselves. Thus the education of these 
psychologically orphaned little ones is carried on, and this is 
the chief occupation of my beloved partner and myself. 

Q. When you left your body by death, in what part of the 
universe did you find yourself? 

A. I came into consciousness in the room where my body 
was still l} 7 ing. My sympathies and my home were with those 
on earth whom I still loved. It was some years before I was 
prepared to rise out of, and leave your world's atmosphere. 
You being a spiritual and a natural man, must perforce be 
sustained by the conditions of two worlds. Death is but the 
disuniting of the inner from the outer, but not necessarily a 
removal of the inner nature from its present conditions ; these 
are maintained so long as there is aught strong enough in the 
way of hopes, in the way of fears, or in the way of attractions 
of any kind, to hold you to the spiritual conditions of ter- 
restrial life in which you have formerly existed. Until these 
links are broken, you are more or less tightly chained. Every 
round in the ladder must be pressed, and the work of earth 
must be finished, before a spirit can permanently dwell in the 
higher heavens of beatific beauty and bliss. ' 

Q. To what does sex primarily relate ? 

A. Remember that there are some subjects upon which 
spirits theorize as well as mortals. In my opinion, sex is a 
derived or secondary quality, and is maintained so long as the 
integral factor — the soul — is connected with secondary or 
•derived conditions. I have heard it stated by ancient spirits, 
whom you sometimes denominate the gods, that there comes 
a time in the far-off distance when the integral factor, or 
soul, rises up to that sublime altitude, where it is consciously 
independent of the secondary or derived condition of sex. 



MANY VOICES FEOM THE SPIRIT LAND. 191 

This is called the realm of universal love — the state of pure 
beino; ! 

Q. Does 3'our love for this world decrease the longer you 
live in the higher and better world ? 

A. My sympathies decrease for this world as a world, but 
they increase for intelligent beings wherever found. In ap- 
proaching the earth to communicate, and taking on tempo- 
rarily its sympathies, tendencies, and memories, I indulge 
often in playful remarks and parables, seeking the better to 
convey useful lessons. . . . Personally, I have nothing to do 
with the construction of the building that I have described to 
you, though I have tried in some respects to improve and 
beautify it. It was prepared for me by others, and I consid- 
ered myself more than fortunate in being permitted to inhabit 
it. ... I knew nothing of spiritualism when living in my 
mortal body, and I gave very little s'tudy to spiritual matters. 

A Spirit Message, with Ansivers to Questions, through the 
Mediumship of W. H. Fletcher, London. 

I stand upon the present occasion as a medium between 
other spirits and my medium, something as he is a medium 
between you and myself. 

In passing away from the world of matter into the world 
of spirit, definite experiences come to different individuals. 
Hence, what may be true of one ma}^ not be true of another. 
There comes into my presence just now a child — Stella. 
She has been in the spirit world several years, and the first 
thing she saw when awaking to consciousness, was the friends 
bending over the cold casket that she had left. Their tears 
fell upon it like rain. She spoke to them, calling them by 
familiar names, but they heard not. Loving spirits and wait- 
ing angels, spiritually clothed her risen form. Though her 
body had been buried, the great grief of father, mother, and 
friends held her by the law of sympathy within the atmos- 
phere of the old home conditions. You of earth, not under- 
standing this subject as you should, cause spirit friends sor- 
row and trouble. Gradually becoming able to assume control 



192 IMMORTALITY. 

of a medium, she taught them to think of her not as a lost 
child to them, but as one waiting for their coming to the bet- 
ter world of light and love. The moment that they were en- 
abled to look upon death as a friend rather than an enemy, 
becoming calm and trusting, that moment they made it pos- 
sible for her to enter more fully into the spiritual world. 
The first objects of interest to her from this time were such 
spirits as could adapt themselves to her and childhood teach- 
ings. 

Here comes another spirit, who died in the full strength of 
manhood; and things look so natural, and seem so tangible, 
that he cannot fully realize the change. He goes out into the 
very business life to which his strength had been given, and 
continues to be interested in the pursuits of human existence. 
He was not a really wicked man, but one of a class that makes 
the world neither much worse nor better for having lived in 
it. Like others, he had eaten and drank. He had lived, 
moved, and revolved round the center of self. He knew little 
of fortune or misfortune, only so far as they affected himself 
or family. Now he is in our world, and yet he hardly realizes 
it. He largely draws his life from those about him, and might, 
were he to control a medium, vampire-like absorb the medium's 
strength, and strenuously contend that he was not dead. To 
'us his condition seems deplorable. It is the self-satisfaction 
of ignorance. Fiery trials, disappointments, and penances, 
await him. Only these, it seems to us, can arouse him to a 
sense of his true condition, and the heights that await the 
true and the unselfishly good in the infinite beyond. 

The more benevolent and spiritual the life one leads upon 
earth, the more joyous and complete will be the awakening in 
the spirit world. The time will come when individuals will 
consider it a privilege, rather than a misfortune, to suffer, 
simply because there are certain experiences that must be 
passed through. And the more one struggles against tempta- 
tion and overcomes the lower nature here, the better will he 
be prepared for the life hereafter. . . . 

Spirits, as you well know, meet by the law of affinity, and 






MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 193 

move in groups or divisions. Minds engaged in the same pur- 
suits naturally gravitate to the same condition: and our homes, 
instead of being built as you build yours, are constructed to 
meet the desires of those who inhabit them. Those having 
no desire for food or shelter, and no especial wish for a located 
home, wander on through this spiritual world of wondrous 
beauty, enjoying it much as you would enjoy an Italian sun- 
set. Spirits are more inclined to live and move in groups, 
clusters and societies, than mortals. This does not apply, 
however, to those who have just left their bodies. The 
groups and societies that I previously referred to, dwell or 
exist out of and beyond the atmosphere of your earth. 
Though the spirit world may, the spiritual world does not 
begin, until the earthly life is nearly lost sight of. . . . 

The embryo infant is immortal from the moment of concep- 
tion, and hence it is a fearful vice to blast and force the bud 
from the tree of life. Every child should be a welcome child, 
and, passing through the diverse experiences of infancy, 
youth, and manhood, should reach a good old age. . . . 

It is not true, as a class of Theosophists teach, that it is 
possible for a human soul to perish through inherent deprav- 
ity. But it sometimes transpires that a human personality 
in descending into and assuming earth garments, becomes 
divided in a manner analogous to the separation of a ray of 
light through the agency of the prism, and these divided 
portions converge and blend in the original personality again 
after certain special missions have been accomplished. . . . 

In the spirit world, spirit guides do not necessarily bear any 
relation to the mediums they controlled upon earth. There 
should be a distinction made between spirit guardians and 
spirit guides. All mortals have their guardian angels, but all 
do not have spirit guides helping them in the performance of 
a special work. Where there is great love, however, between 
the guides and the medium, where both have suffered much, 
both growing mutually strong in sympathy and faith, then the 
spirit guide becomes the teacher of the medium, when the 
latter is clothed upon with immortality. 
13 



194 IMMORTALITY. 

Written through Mrs. L. M. K., of San Francisco, California, 
by her Sister Eliza. 

When I passed to spirit life I entered the fourth degree of 
happiness. Each degree is divided into what may be denomi- 
nated fifteen compartments. I was too young, of course, to 
have known sin ; but I was also too young to have 
advanced in spiritual progression. I am now in the 
fifth degree, and hope very soon to enter the sixth with my 
mother. We have our homes, our houses, our fruit, birds, 
flowers, plants, trees, every thing that you have on earth, and 
as tangible to us as material things are to you. There is no 
sorrow in our home. It is only when we approach and wit- 
ness the sorrow and suffering of earth's inhabitants, that we 
are unhappy. I am sometimes sent on missions of love to 
earthly homes, and frequently the conditions are such that I 
cannot come into rapport with them and be able to bring back 
reports. I have for days followed a train of cars or a ship 
when desiring to convey ideas to those I loved, yet could 
not approach them, although I was positive they Avere on 
board. Every time we are permitted to make ourselves 
known we are greatly advanced. If I were to describe homes 
made of the most beautiful flowers, studded with precious 
gems, with streams of water rippling over a bed of diamonds 
and pearls, gardens containing every variety of luscious fruits, 
it might seem unreal to }'ou ; but no, dear brother, we should 
then fall far short of a true description of the beauty and 
grandeur which surrounds us in our spirit home — that home 
not made with hands, but by the pure thoughts and good 
actions expressed in the earthly life. Eliza. 

December 23, 1878. 

Description of Mrs. Colonel Taylors Spirit Home : through the 
Mediumship of Colonel Taylor, ex-Member of Congress, re- 
siding formerly in Alabama. 

It is a lovely home, just my ideal when I entered it; but 
now I have a higher ideal stretching away into the golden 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 195 

distance. The building is constructed of a variety of mate- 
rials, and covered with the beautiful arbor- vita). On every 
side flowers of richest hues bloom perpetually. The floors 
are of sandal-wood; the windows are of jasper, and they 
blaze like diamonds. The furniture consists chiefly of center- 
table, mirrors, bureaus, chairs, ottomans, sofas — everything 
that can add to beauty and comfort. The diet is melons, 
nuts, fruits, and heavenly manna. Very exalted spirits, so I 
am told, subsist upon angels' food, and inhale the very elixir 
of life. Not only do our flowers, but our birds, infinitely 
surpass those of earth in plumage and song. They fill wood 
and plain, grove and glen, with delicious music. They are 
very tame, too, allowing me to handle and caress them. The 
rivers abound in water-falls, and the crystal streams swarm 
with fish of every hue and size. The forests abound in ani- 
mals, but they are tame and harmless. No artist can paint 
nor pen do justice to the glories of the spirit world. My 
mission has thus far been, and for the time to come will be to 
those I love upon earth. I await with the tenderest anxiety 
their arrival to the home that I am preparing for them. 

John Knoiules'' Description of his Spirit Home and Spirit Life : 
through the Mediamship of Thomas Walker. 

On earth I was a traveling lecturer, my field of labors being 
in England and Scotland. My themes were phrenology and 
mental philosophy. I have been in the world of spirits about 
seven years. My home is in the Valley of Joy, near Sunshine 
River, that empties into Angel Lake. It is environed with 
trees, bearing the most delicious kinds of ever ripening but 
never decaying fruit. A balmy fragrance is exhaled from the 
branches, while among them disport birds of richest plumage. 
The entrance is through a spacious porch, supported by pillars 
of different colors. Passing through this porch, we enter into 
a parlor, the walls of which are of crystal. The ceiling is 
dome-like, and the floor of downy softness, with mingled col- 
ors of red and orange. The walls are decorated with delicate 
drapery and flowers somewhat resembling your roses. 



19fe 



IMMORTALITY. 



We now pass on to the art gallery. Upon the walls of this 
are drawings, paintings, and productions, executed in spirit 
life, and the work is so perfect that they stand out in full 
relief like statues. One of these is a representation of the 
entrance of Jesus into the sphere of Buddha. Jesus is kneel- 
ing, while Gautama Buddha crowns him with a wreath of 
flowers, indicating the fidelity and purity of his life. 

On these walls are also the portraits of several eminent 
characters who occupied the home before myself. When I 
leave and pass to a higher sphere, my portrait will be added 
for the inspection of those who succeed me. The globular 
center that so magnificently illumines this room is invisible to 
the visitor. 

Leaving the art gallery, and passing through an archway to 
the right, we enter the library room, where are such books 
and manuscripts as my predecessors and myself have been 
able to collect. In the center of the library is a fragrant and 
musically-playing fountain. In this room my special friends 
often assemble to discuss matters of interest to dwellers in 
the Valley of Joy. Leaving by the left, we enter a floral 
grotto. It is beautifully arranged, and designed for the ladies 
of the valley. This grotto overlooks a part of Sunshine 
Valley. . . . Spirit homes are as much objective and as sub- 
stantially real as are yours to you. And yet were we to 
visit your residences in our refined spiritual bodies, they 
would be almost invisible and wholly intangible to us. The 
construction of the home that I have described to you has 
been a gradual work, occupying centuries of time before the 
coming of the present occupant. I was drawn to it by the 
law of natural fitness. Special homes are thus appropriated 
and used as long as the adaptation contiuues. In many re- 
spects the internal arrangements of the homes that stud the 
Valley of Joy are like well-regulated ones upon earth, only 
they have no sleeping apartments. For the repose of a half 
conscious sleep, when needed, our inhabitants pass over the 
river to the land of dusk, where the clear and steady light, from 
natural causes, is shaded down into a dusky twilight. Speak- 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 197 

ing in general terms, home life is much with us as with you, 
only more intense in its enjoyments. A spirit wife and two 
children are the' additional inmates of the one just described. 
The gardens of the valley require but very little attention, 
because of the genial atmosphere and the refreshing dews. 
Our labors are voluntary, being labors of love for the good of 
others. 

My Residence and that of Others in the Spirit World. By John 
Glover, through the Mediumship of Mrs. Conant. 

I lived in Quincy, Mass., but now reside in Vinga Villa, 
Spring Garden City, Spirit World. 

The villa takes its name from the numerous quantity of 
vines surrounding it. There is nothing exactly like it in all 
the city. It was constructed by an English horticulturist, 
and was his dwelling-place for a long time until he went 
higher. Now, by some strange fatality, it has fallen to me, and 
I assure you that I appreciate it, for it is just what I admire. 

I to-day visited the residence of your late friend and co- 
worker, Mr. William White. He has just become domiciled 
there. The structure is of a material that would correspond 
to your alabaster, perfectly pure, perfectly white. It is very 
symmetrical in its proportions ; indeed, a perfect symmetry 
exists everywhere; but it is. very plain, very unostentatious, 
yet very beautiful. It is an exemplification of his earthly 
life — an humble, unostentatious, harmonious, beautiful, pure 
life, all combined. There is his dwelling, telling just what 
the man was when he was here. There's no mistaking it ; 
every intelligent spirit knows what that indicates — who 
dwells there. 

I have recently visited, also, the dwelling-place of your 
late friend and co-worker, William Berry. That is a more 
pretentious dwelling, larger, and of finer decorations. We 
find upon it all the various devices of music, and of the art 
of printing, all interwoven with what corresponds to your 
precious gems here in this life. It is a very imposing struc- 
ture, and tells what the man's life was here — fitful, ardent, 



198 IMMORTALITY. 

aspiring, daring, and ready to put his shoulder to any wheel 
that the Almighty saw fit to ask him to put his shoulder to. 
There was the strength, there was the will manifested in the 
decorations of gems ; there was the ardor manifested in the 
color. The ground-work of the building is of light blue and 
white, indicating that the man here was struggling between 
purity and wisdom. He knew better than he always did ; 
but, surmounting that, in the gems of various colors, we are 
told that he overcame many temptations and achieved many 
grand spiritual works. On one side of the building is a beau- 
tiful orange grove ; on the other we find the most beautiful 
tropical flowers that the eye ever rested upon. In the rear 
of the building are fruits and flowers and grains, all beautiful 
and useful. He was a man of large utility of purpose, as is 
displayed in the architecture of the building, in the laying 
out of his grounds, in the selection of his trees, his flowers. 
These things all tell you what the man is that abides in that 
building ; and so it is with reference to all the dwellers in the 
spirit life. There are, fortunately, no outcasts, no homeless 
ones. There all have homes adequate to their needs, and 
homes just such as they have earned here in this life, and you 
know at once what the spiritual characteristics of the dweller 
in the building are by looking at the building. 

The dwelling-place of Mozart is an elaborate architecture 
of musical instruments and notes. All the various notes in 
the grand harmony of music are there represented and elabo- 
rated upon. Every musical instrument known upon earth is 
there in objective reality, as well as every one known in the 
spirit world. Who dwells there you need not ask. A musi- 
cian — some one whose soul is thoroughly imbued or baptized 
with music. 

Theodore Parker inhabits a villa in the suburbs of the city; 
not very large, but very beautiful. There you will see grow- 
ing in beauty all the beautiful flowers that delight the senses, 
and beautiful fruits ; and every day troops of happy spirits 
go out there to. hear him discourse upon some subject, or 
to ask him to elucidate some question, or to hear from him 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 199 

some of the experiences of his earth-life. He stands out 
upon his vine-clad, balcony with uncovered head, and dis- 
courses there as he never did here ; and yet you would know 
it was the plain Parker of your Music Hall. You could not 
be mistaken. Indeed, I will venture to assert that there is 
not a single one of his friends here in life, who, if they were 
taken instantaneously to the spirit world in front of his beau- 
tiful home, would not recognize it, and were 3^011 to ask them 
" Who do you suppose lives there ? " they would say, " Theo- 
dore Parker." 

When our friend and brother White was first taken there, 
he didn't know who dwelt there ; but his friends said to 
him, " Now tell us who you suppose would inhabit such a 
little bijou as that?" "Well," he says, "I don't know of 
anybody but Parker. It seems to me he would like it." 

You will find this spirit world is a real world — the real, of 
which this, your life, is but a shadow. You fancy that you 
are dwelling in a real life here, but the truth is that you are 
here in the shadow, while the real life is to come ; and instead 
of that life being a ghostly one, and made up of conditions 
entirely inimical to human happiness, it is one that ministers 
unto the happiness of the sou] continually. It would seem 
that the Infinite had taken into special consideration the 
needs of the risen soul, and had given each one just what 
they most needed. 

Our dear friend and brother White said, when he was es- 
corted to his new residence, " Oh, it is beautiful; and how 
well God knew what I most loved — plain, but beautiful ! 
beautiful ! " And there, upon the steps, he knelt in prayer ; 
and while he was surrounded by listening thousands, he sent 
out a soul-prayer to the Author of all our blessings such 
as I never heard before and never expect to again, because 
such scenes do not repeat themselves. 

And now, dear friends, see to it that you live such lives 
here as will bring you satisfaction in the hereafter. I have 
shown you one side of the picture. There is another side. 
I have seen many who were dissatisfied with their surround- 



200 IMMORTALITY. 

ings, and yet they all admit that they are — they are just 
what they have earned, and if you wish for happiness in the 
life to come, be honest, just, charitable, and Christ-like in the 
earthly or rudimentary state of being. 

Message from Dr. C. H. Burrows, on Spirit Progression, to 
Rev. F. J. Briggs, through the Mediumship of Bliss Thayer. 

Wisdom can neither be bought nor sold, but must be earned 
if it is possessed at all. Without that requisite no spirit can 
pass beyond the sedimentary sphere. All spheres, all states 
of being in the spirit world, exist in accordance with God's 
government, in accordance with eternal and necessary laws ; 
otherwise, the sedimentary sphere would be a hell and a 
curse. Those eternal laws provide that all pass through this 
intermediate state, this sedimentary sieve. The length of the 
sojourn here varies with different persons according to the 
life they have lived in the body, according to the attitude of 
resistance or of obedience they maintain toward the disciplines 
which wisdom-teachers prescribe, and according to their fit- 
ness, or lack of it, for residence in the nobler brotherhoods of 
superior spheres. 

Those who ascend to the sphere of knowledge carry with 
them a will-power, and reflect it back through sympathy to 
the dwellers in the sedimentarj^ sphere, who have the same 
properties of intelligence and possibilities of progress as those 
who have advanced to the more exalted societies. In this 
manner the sensitives of the lower become receptive of the 
influence of the higher spheres, and in this manner likewise 
they become inspired with the desire for knowledge which 
noble aspiring spirits have already attained. 

On entering the sphere of knowledge the spirit experiences 
a sensation of delight, of exaltation, at the prospect that opens 
to the view. All below was growth and preparation ; here is 
the bud, the blossom, the fruition of knowledge, with still 
grander prospect of golden fruit and grain upon the rising 
slopes that come into view. All creation pulsates with life. 
All things display an upward movement. The birthplace of 



MANY VOICES FBOM THE SPIRIT LAND. 201 

living beings is as much in the spirit world as upon the physi- 
cal globe. 

. In the sphere of knowledge the diamonds of intelligence 
are polished into gems of worth before higher attainments can 
be gained. Here is submission to the higher laws of reason. 
"No vaiuglorying or self-triumph are admitted to these 
courts " is written over the doors of the school-rooms where 
the wise teachers assemble. When true humility is attained; 
when the simplicity of the little child characterizes the stu- 
dent of wisdom ; when obedience to the higher laws of pro- 
gress is known, then a new door is opened, and the immortal 
pilgrim is admitted to the glories of a new celestial scenery. 

Description of a Spirit's Home, through the Mediumship of Mrs. 
Nannie Watson, Memphis, Tenn. 

The spirit world is not far removed from the natural world. 
In appearance the spirit world closely resembles the physical 
world. The similarity is too striking for you to believe. The 
mind views spirit in the sense of intangibility, as something 
like misty nothingness, when the truth is, spirit to spiritual 
beings is tangible and real. The spirit world, as we term it, 
is the abode of undeveloped spirits — those who have not 
long left the body, and those who, by the laws of spirit life, 
have not arisen to higher spheres by progression. Here they 
are instructed in regard to higher aims and spheres ; here 
spirits from the higher spheres come to talk to them of God's 
love, and make them feel they are bound to him by that elec- 
tric chain which holds every atom of God's creation together. 
Love makes this chain bright always, and the ages of eternity 
will only serve to increase its brightness. The spirit world is 
encircled by this chain, and spirits who are not developed 
above the transgressions and errors committed w T hile in the 
body could never feel the potencies of this electric influence 
w T ere they not directed and instructed by those who, with 
feelings God-like, come to them, making their abode brighter 
by telling them of their union with God and holy angels by 
this sympathetic chain of love. 



202 IMMOETALITY. 

Springs run through the spirit world in sparkling rivulets, 
much like those of earth, but the water is of electric bright- 
ness, which comes from the fountain, God. 

Fruits grow here, but their sweetness and delicious flavor 
come from the parent tree, God, and are delicious in propor- 
tion as the soul seeks after Him. The sun shines, making the 
spirit world present the appearance of sparkling aural emana- 
tions from bodies surcharged with that element. This bright- 
ness cannot be seen by those whose souls were in darkness, as 
" those who had been long dead " in trespasses and sin. 
" Eyes have they, but they see not ; ears have they, but they 
hear not," for God was not in all their thoughts while in the 
body; now they must "work out their salvation." Spirits 
help them only as they help those on the earth-plane. We 
come to them, teaching them as we teach you. They receive 
our instructions as you often do, with mistrust. This retards 
our help, but we labor on ; one soul is worth thousands of 
worlds like this. Ministers often say this without feeling the 
full import of the sentiment. God sends us to gather from 
the four corners of the earth those His love created and re- 
deemed. 

My spirit home is in what we term the fifth sphere. Here 
the spirit bodies of those who have passed through the first 
spheres of progression live when not engaged on errands of 
mercy to lower spheres, teaching the duties which Christ 
came to teach them. Here we meet in council to delegate 
messengers with power to operate in matters pertaining to 
spiritual development, and carrying out the plans of God's 
ministration of government. His plans are executed by his 
ministering angels. They come to us from higher courts, and 
send us to those lower in the plan of God's government. It 
is our council that directs mortals in spiritual affairs. Then 
those below us, more material in their offices, impress in tem- 
poral matters. Here the spirit is more developed, and the 
spiritual life is more perfect than in lower spheres. Material 
resemblances lose their influence, and more of God is seen, 
because God is spirit, and cannot be seen in material things. 



MANY VOICES FEOM THE SPIRIT LAND. 203 

Consequently the materialized aspect of the spirit world passes 
away, and love and wisdom, which belong only to God, fills 
the realm. Christ presides more personally here than in the 
lower spheres, where he is known as their material sun. 

The sphere in which we dwell cannot well be described by 
a comparison with material things, for all is spiritual, and 
" God in Christ," God in the angels, and God in the heavenly 
intelligences, is the glory of it. This is all I can tell you. 
Much more than, this you cannot comprehend while body 
and spirit are united, for all things partake of the nature of 
earthly things when spirit looks through mortal being. Spirit 
is spirit, and can only be seen with the internal being, and 
that must be freed from material surroundings before it can 
see God in all His power and goodness, in all His wisdom and 
matchless love. 

Mungo Parks' Home, through Thomas Walker of England. 

Away in the far-stretching distance from your earth rolls 
Sunshine River, with waters blue and deep and musical. The 
winding course is not unlike the Upper Nile. Along the way 
the waters occasionally rush down sharp declivities, forming 
cataracts of gorgeous beauty, into a tranquil lake-like basin, 
silent and silvery. Rocks, overhanging shrubbery, and ever- 
blooming flowers, build a wall-like gallery around this slum- 
bering deep. Then on again roll these singing waters till 
they are lost in Angel Lake. On the right-hand bank of this 
river, fringed by graceful palm-trees, are distant mountains, 
from the summits of which I see the face of the never-setting 
sun. On the right are flowering shrubs that bear perfume, 
yield precious fruit, and gracefully wave to the passing breeze. 
On the left, by a statue of Bruno in solid light, is a shady 
grove, and musical instruments which breathe forth the most 
ravishing strains of melody. Here is situated my home. Its 
walls are translucent, and supported by pillars of flowers, each 
of which represents a friend. The roof is an interblending of 
the several colors, and the dome is clear as crystal. The door- 
ways — as you would call them — are arches built in repre- 



204 IMMORTALITY. 

sentations of tropical fruits. Over one of these is the motto, 
" Life begets life, and love begets love." On another, " All 
that we see is evanescent, mind alone eternal ! " Over an 
Oriental-looking porch-way jets of rippling water play a tune 
of the softest music. Of this mortals can form but little con- 
ception. Across Sunshine River may be witnessed the phe- 
nomenon of dusk. Here are fountains of mellowed light, self- 
luminous vegetation, and hazy, golden-like skies — this the 
sphere of rest and calm repose. We would like to say more, 
but the condition of the medium will not permit, My habi- 
tation is known as Myrtle Home, on Sunshine River, in the 
Morning Land. . . . Believe me, pilgrim of earth, that your 
journeyings over the sea of worldly life will be strewn with 
thorns of opposition, trouble, and clanger, while your sides 
will often be pierced with the sword of jealousy, prejudice, 
and hate; but trust in God and His ministering angels, and, 
believe me, our smiles shall encourage you, and our hands 
shall bear you up, " lest at any time thou shalt dash thy feet 
against a stone." I must now away to other duties. 

Dr. Beecher's Home and Experiences after his Transition into 
Spirit Life, through the Mediumship of Mrs. Nettie O. 
Maynard, Springfield, Ohio. 

It is no longer disputed by those well informed that Pres- 
ident Lincoln had premonitions, dreamed prophetic dreams, 
and sought the counsels of spirits during the closing years of 
the rebellion. Briefly stated, he became a Spiritualist. 

And while Dr. J. B. Conklin was often consulted by him, — 
a gentleman, now of Philadelphia, accompanying him upon 
his first visit to the Presidential mansion, — still it is well 
known in Washington society that Mrs. Maynarcl was the 
chosen medium of our most honored, yet martyred President. 

As the war dragged * slowly on, stout hearts alternately 
hoping, fearing — the risen fathers of the Republic, through 
this lady's entranced organism, entreated — pleaded of Mr. 
Lincoln to issue a proclamation of emancipation. This he 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 205 

bravely did, breaking with a few firm strokes of the pen 
millions of chains and shackles. 

A full history of this matter — soon to be published, so I 
understand — will show that Mrs. Maynard was frequently 
invited to the President's residence during the closing months 
of our late civil war, that he might receive counsel from a 
sympathizing and supervising congress of spirits. 

Among the controlling teachers and spirit guides of Mrs. 
Maynard is Dr. Beecher, of Barkhamsted, Conn. Here follows 
a brief sketch of his experiences in the better land of im- 
mortality. 

I was ill but a few clays — dying suddenly. As I now 
look back, the event was but a shock — a momentary loss of 
consciousness. I could hardly believe at first that I had died, 
as I was still in the familiar apartment. That a change had 
come over me, however, was certain * and yet I could not 
seem to comprehend it. I never felt more alive ; and still I 
could not seem to exactly adjust myself to the new conditions 
of being. When mortals come into the earthly life, there are 
those expecting them — those who have made preparations 
for their reception ; so with the higher birth, my father met 
me. I was clothed ; almost immediately my wife and daughter 
approached me. This for the moment added to my confusion. 
These all extended hands of welcome, but I could not readily 
speak. Others, whom I had known in the body, came to me, 

awakening memories of by-gone years Casting my 

eyes towards earthly friends weeping over the mortal remains 
that I had left, I thought I would make myself known to 
them that they might understand that death was only tran- 
sition — the new and the better birth ; but I could neither 
make them see nor hear me. It was a sad disappointment. 
I was thoroughly myself — an individual man with conscious- 
ness, reason, and memory of worldly experiences 

After a little time, accompanied by my father, I moved out 
of the room and off through the atmosphere, which seemed 
as naturally adapted to me as are purling waters to finny 
tribes. At first my father was my teacher ;'"but soon, in har- 



206 . IMMORTALITY. 

mony with the law of adaptation, my father brought to me a 
spirit guide far in advance of me. His presence was com- 
manding, and his lessons divine. I looked up to him with 
reverence, and his teachings thrilled me with ecstasy. His 
interesting instructions relative to atmospheres, impalpable 
auras, and the interlacing belts that enzone planetary worlds, 
were too far-reaching for my comprehension. Stars like 
mortal man are born — have their youthful time ; then old 
age — their death. The earth that }~ou left so recently is be- 
coming more etherealized during each revolution, ultimately 
it will not be seen by the more materialized dwellers of other 
planets and worlds. Stars said to have vanished from your 
stellar heavens, have only become too ethereal, too sublimated 
for the eye to behold. . . . Strange things did I hear. Over 
earthly cities are spiritual cities, and yet the great multitude 
of spirits are not in one place, but many places corresponding 
to spheres and states. They are divided by purposes, lan- 
guages, dress, and tribal prejudices ; but gradually approach 
through effort, reconciliations, and the law of progress. . . . 
Mortals entering spirit life are but little more than children. 
When I became exhausted or weary I was conducted to the 
temple of repose — a peculiarly constructed temple, fresh 
and full of magnetic life. The flowers and balsam-like trees 
around it seemed to shed a healing strengthening balm. 
After these resting seasons I was generally invited to the 
temple of prayer, where everything seemed rapt and softened 

b}' the spirit of devotion At times I visited schools of 

art, of music, of mechanical inventions, and of medicine, the 
latter interesting me intensely. These various schools of mind 
often exchange ideas, and when they make a discovery or 
perfect something they send missionaries to report to other 
circles of spirits. And further, spirits are selected to seek 
out corresponding minds upon earth, that can readily receive 
the discovery by impression. They are also helped to utilize 
it. Such receptive minds need not necessarily be known as 
mediums. The man you call Edison is the best medium for 
a given purpose on your earth A delegate goes fre- 



MANY VOICES FBOM THE SPIRIT LAND. 207 

quentl} 7 from our circle to all countries, and to many of the 
circle-spheres in spirit life. He delights in being a sort of a 
traveling messenger. He assures us that there are people on 
the islands of the open Polar sea. ... 

I had not been long in this world of spirits before I was 
taken to the temple of self-examination, and left alone. The 
silence was almost painful. My memory seemed unaccount- 
ably vivid. My earthly life passed before me like a panorama. 
I seemed to see everything, especially myself. My very being 
was as glass. Not only my acts, but my motives seemed to 
rise up before me. It was the judgment ! and yet a judgment 
tempered with mercy. For while bewailing the past, my 
guide came, bidding me look, not upon the past, but to 
press upward and on in the golden future ; and assuring me 
that I was to pursue the study of medicine and moral philos- 
ophy. I was then taken to the temple of consecration, set 
apart to do my work, and told that I should endeavor to find 
a medium to control ; which I did in the person of Mrs. Ham- 
ilton, known as a clairvoyant. For a time I was her attend- 
ing guide. 

You ask about my house, and desire me to go more into 
detail. 

I will try. Yes, I have a house, and it is as real and tan- 
gible to me as j^our costliest palaces are to you. It has doors, 
windows, apartments, paintings, musical instruments, and a 
library. My favorite room is a bower of flowers. I often 
entertain my friends ; we have repasts, we converse, not upon 
the follies and fashions of earth; but generally life, laws, 
principles, duties, and the destinies of souls. Around my 
house are ornamental trees, and plants, the medical properties 
of which I delight to study. It was made for me. There are 
builders and gardeners with us, just the same as there are 
writers, thinkers, poets, and philosophers. The construction 
of homes in the spirit world of which I am an inhabitant does 
not require so •much muscular effort as it does desire and will. 
All buildings exist first in the brain of the architects. The 
spiritual is the real. What you would call material realities 



208 IMMOBTALITY. 

we should consider as shadows. ... In the heavenly realms 
I am told that everything is divinely beautiful and ethereal. 
The blessed there feast upon spiritual essences, and quaff 
nectar from fountains of immortal love. It is the qualities 
and vital forces of foods that sustain, and not bulky crudities. 
. . . There are gondolas, palanquins, carriages, and chariots 
in my sphere of existence. Some would go from this place 
to London in half an hour. Others would go almost like the 
lightning's flash. . . . 

In the first stratum of the spirit spheres enzoning your 
earth there are animals, insects, and birds. Often have I 
seen children playing with them. They do this till their 
desires and tastes are transferred to higher objects. 

You inquire if I have seen Jesus of Nazareth. 

I have not, to my knowledge. My mind has not been 
especially turned in that direction. None in our world of 
spiritual activities, so far as I have ever heard, deny his ex- 
istence. He is spoken of with reverence, and is admitted to 
be far above us. He was the most perfect reformer, the most 
unselfish teacher, and the best attuned instrument of God and 
angels, that your world has known. It is he that keeps the 
Christ idea so alive in the hearts of millions. In our temples 
of worship is seen the picture of Jesus, denominated by one 
of old — " the brightness of the Father's glory." I get these 
concej)tions, that Jesus Christ was so exalted and divine, from 
the sphere of wisdom. 

Our religious temples are the homes of aspiration and pro- 
found gratitude to God the giver of life. When entering 
their flower-wreathed gates, the delicate lily -like flowers seem 
to sway, and drop tremulous tones of meloclv. Our mediums, 
or sensitives, occupy the centers of these temples upon great 
occasions ; for often the saintly souls of ancient times come 
into the^e temples as heavenly teachers, leading and lifting 
our minds into the diviner calms of holy love. 

Through the writing mediumship of Mrs. Maynard, the 
following communications, bearing directly upon the nature 



MANY VOICES F110M THE SPTRTT LAND. 209 

of spirit life, were given to Mr. S. R. Fanshaw, a well-known 
artist of New York, and long a member of the National 
Academy of Design. The messages were from his wife, a 
sweet, pure-minded woman who walked the earth almost an 
angel. For want of room I can only give an outline of her 
beautiful descriptions. 

My first clear recollection, after looking with mortal eyes 
upon the anxious faces of my dear husband and children, 
was of being borne upward , listening to the most heavenly 
music of welcome. ... As the last words of the song died 
away, I was tenderly laid upon a soft downy couch of beauti- 
ful flowers in a pure white temple, which, I have since 
learned, is here called the " Temple of Repose." I only wish, 
dear ones, that I had the power to describe the marvelous 
beauty of that place. ... I awoke to find myself clasped in 
the arms of my living mother, followed by our own precious 
child, and all the dear ones who had reached the heavenly 
home before me. Oh, the joy of that meeting ! . . . 

After a little a beautiful lady clothed in white came to our 
mother, and said, " All is ready," when immediately she in- 
formed me that we were now to proceed to the " Temple of 
Prayer." Heavenly music fell upon us like a holy benedic- 
tion. We moved in a procession, I walking with our noble, 
loving son. Oh, how my soul is thrilled with joy at the rec- 
ollection ! After marching on through gardens and groves 
and flower-fringed walls, lovelier than any of earth, we paused 
before the arch of a majestic temple. It seemed to be con- 
structed of gorgeous flowers and intertwining lilies of snowy 
whiteness, every petal of which sparkled with crystal clew- 
drops — all fitting symbols of the tears of joy and gratitude 
that filled my soul. 

A low interlude now arose, and to its measured rise and 
fall we moved in at the open portal, and formed a circle about 
the loveliest altar that I ever beheld. . . . The sign of the 
broken cross, decorated with intertwining' flowers, was crowned 
with an arch on which I saw in letters of almost blinding 
brightness these words : 
14 



210 immortality. 

" Ik this Life there is no Death." 

While I was admiring the unspeakable beauty of the tem- 
ple, the music swelled into a full chorus, and multitudes of 
voices, chiming in perfect harmony, sang a sweet hymn of 
praise. From several stanzas I select this : 

Oh, our Father, give the blessing, 

While we consecrate as thine 
One whose joy beyond expressing 

Bows her soul to Thee, Divine. 

As the last lingering echoes died away, I saw a saintly- 
looking man standing before the altar, and as we all of one 
accord knelt, he uttered a most touching and tender prayer. 
This was followed by music. . . . Then I passed on with my 
accompanying guide to the open archway of the temple of con- 
secration, where a band of lovely white-clad females met me, 
and, leading the way in, conducted me to a seat seemingly 
formed of white roses, the delicious strength-imparting fra- 
grance of which filled the surrounding air. The ladies then 
put a white wreath upon my head, and a very commanding 
spirit approached me, with countenance like the brightness of 
the sun, and whose presence seemed to fill the vast temple 
with a holy peace. Instinctively I arose and knelt before 
him. He gently laid his white hand upon my head, and the 
feeling of blissful rest that filled my spirit-depths I can never 
describe. I have since learned that this was the Temple of 
Love, and over it our " Elder Brother " presides. . . . 

Situated in a lovely valley, through which winds a pure 
purling stream of water, is my cottage home. In the dis- 
tance rise lofty mountains crowned with rainbows ; in front 
there is a beautiful lawn studded with flowers of every hue — 
trees, vines, and fountains, full of the lessons of truth and 
wisdom. In my home are seats, sofas, couches of almost every 
conceivable shape, and ornaments revealing some law in their 
arrangement, speaking of some duty to be performed, or re- 
minding me of others to be aided in consonance with the great 
law of brotherhood. 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 211 

My immediate work at present is confined to labors here on 
earth, darling, with you and the dear children. . . . No one 
resides with me but my children, as each of our relatives 
and friends have their own homes. One of our rooms is 
adapted to recuperation, one to repose, one to music, one to 
the fine arts, and another to mental development. We meet 
for the interchange of thoughts, ideas, theories of life, and of 
matters pertaining to our duties. Temples of learning await 
us on every side, and we go to such whenever high moral de- 
sires prompt. The arts and sciences here taught antedate 
those on earth. . . . The different members of our family 
often come together. We call them by the law of will-force. 
By a similar law we know when you think of or wish to hear 
from us. 

The foregoing description reminds us of these lines : 

" Oh, Heaven is nearer than mortals think, 
When they look with a trembling dread 
At the misty future that stretches on 
From the quiet home of the dead. 



Ay, very near seem its pearly gates, 

And sweetly its harpings fall ; 
Till the soul is restless to soar away, 

And longs for the angels' call. 

The eye that shuts in a dying-hour 

Will open the next in bliss ; 
The welcome will sound in the heavenly world 

Ere the farewell is hushed in this." 

Voices from Benjamin F. Wade and Horace Greeley, through 
the Writing-Mediumship of Mrs. Milton Rathburn, New York. 

Knowing quite intimately these two distinguished men, es- 
pecially the first-named, often attending seances with him in 
Washington, D. C, I propounded to them a series of ques- 
tions relating to the new and higher existence. Here follows 
the gist of their messages. 

" I have a home, a most delightful abode, and yet, like 
many others, I found it far from perfect ; for my earthly life 
was neither all love nor harmony. The bitterness of discord, 
and the strife engendered by worldly aims, marred, and in a 



212 IMMORTALITY. 

measure disfigured, my spiritual habitation. I found this 
home ready for me when leaving the earthly body. The 
silent work of construction went steadily on from my very 
youth on earth, and is still being carried forward, each act 
producing a corresponding effect upon the structure. Mortals 
in the form largely build their eternal homes. According to 
the ' deeds done in the body,' do all weary pilgrims find their 
homes. 

" This residence is now far away from the atmosphere of 
your earth, and is both real and substantial. . . . The belt- 
like spheres mingled and intermingled the one with the other, 
and yet to spirit inhabitants they are localities distinctly 
defined. Each sphere differs from the other. They have their 
divisions, their names, their lands and waters, their fields 
and forests, their educational institutions, and their social 
enjoyments. 

M}~ special employment at present is to aid in kindling in 
the minds of political aspirants a keener sense of honesty 
and of strict integrity, and also a deeper admiration for a 
government based upon the principles of moral justice and 
equality. Naturally, I take a deep interest in American leg- 
islation, and mean to do something in shaping its future. My 
sympathies reach down and out to every race and clime, and 
I go here and there on missions of love and good-will, and 
bear to my spirit home many hard-earned trophies. ... I see 
no immediate and alarming crisis. Progress is my measured 
steps, rather than lawless leaps. . . . Accept my thanks for 
helping me to this opportunity of momentarily lifting the 
veil between your world and ours." 

Horace Greeley observes that, in dying, " Just as my outer 
consciousness closed in, and the familiar faces and objects 
faded away, my spiritual eyes opened, and I saw through the 
gates ajar in the land that seers had often seen and described. 
I shrink from the attempt to fully describe the surrounding 
scenery. No panorama of the imagination equals it. ... I 
have a home, lovely and grand — a home of nature's beauties, 
works of art, and gems of spirit literature — a located and a 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 213 

real home — a home that increases in beauty as I progress 
towards eternal light — a home of which, during my earthly 
life, I was the unconscious architect and builder. My wrong- 
doing, and the missteps of my mortal life, disfigured and, in a 
degree, tarnished its brightness. Oh that the inhabitants of 
your earth could understand that their works precede them 
to the world of spirits ! ... I am now seeking to finish up 
the work I commenced on earth. It was far from completion 
when I left the body. I find my greatest joy now in assisting 
the weak and oppressed, and in impressing mortals to engage 
in works of philanthropy. ... I would give worlds to more 
fully return and make amends for my cowardly indifference 
to the fact of spiritualism. If in my own body again, as I 
now see it, I would proclaim the blessed truth of angel minis- 
try from the housetops. I had it in my power to accomplish 
easily what now becomes exceedingly clinic ult. I would say 
to all in the form, Do not be ashamed of rational religious 
spiritualism ! March valiantly to the front, and face the ene- 
mies' fire. Unfurl the banners of love and truth that the 
winds of heaven, bearing them aloft, may show the world the 
emblems of a pure and free religion ! Fill your lives so full 
of good deeds, so full of true, brave words spoken, that 3^011 
can look back from spirit life to earth without that stinging 
remorse that I at times have felt for hiding a portion of the 
light given me." 

It is well known to many spiritualists, that the Hon. Benj. 
F. Wade was in early life a materialist ; but through the 
writing mediumship of his wife he was converted to spiritual- 
ism, and though occupying the highest political position in 
the gift of the American nation, except the Presidency, he 
never shrank from the expression of his honest convictions. 
After Mr. Wade's transition, his personal friend, H. E. Par- 
sons, of Ashtabula, Ohio, by request of a near neighbor, asked 
Mr. Wade, soon after passing into spirit life, to give a descrip- 
tion of his condition, and an idea of the location of the spirit 
world. Here follows his answer through a writing medium. 

" The spirit world, or sphere, is everywhere around you, 



214 IMMORTALITY. 

and is only separated from you by a thin veil of matter. You 
are in it now, though quite unconscious of it. Man is a 
spirit in a physical form ; when the veil of matter is with- 
drawn, it reveals to him the spiritual world in which he was 
living before. He does not go to any remote place, neither is 
he immediately changed. He sees the beings who are around 
him, and they are just as near him before the veil was with- 
drawn as they are now. He does not go afar among stran- 
gers, finding everything new and wholly different from what 
he had before seen and known. The future state of man, 
after the change called death, is similar to his state in the 
earth sphere. He has a similar face, speech, appearance, 
mind, and external life ; hence it is, that he knows not other- 
wise than that he is still in the world, unless he adverts to 
those things which present themselves, compelling a compar- 
ison of the two states of existence, or hears the phrase, 'He's 
a spirit ! ' What the vast future may reveal, I know not ; but 
this is true, one life is continued into the other, and death is 
only the passage. Say to my dear wife not to trouble herself 
so much about earthly matters, for they are in the keeping of 
God. I will soon write her a lengthy message ; that is, if I 
can get the opportunity. 

" Your friend, not dead but living, and near you." 






MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 215 



A. A. Bailouts Teachings, through the Trance- Condition of Mrs. 
Cora L. V. Richmond. 

Were you unconscious in dying? Who first met you in 
spirit life ? How were you clothed ? Can spirits pass through 
closed doors and heavy walls ? Is the spiritual body in the 
process of dying disorganized ? Do spirit zones envelop the 
earth, and are their lines of demarkation between them ? Have 
you a residence in spirit life, and if so, by whom constructed ? 
What of animals and birds in the spirit world ? Do you con- 
sider God a personal intelligence ? To you, what is the 
present outlook of spiritualism ? 

I submitted the above inquiries to the controlling intelli- 
gences of Mrs. Cora L. V. Richmond. They were promptly 
answered by the spirit, A. A. Ballou. 

I experienced no unconsciousness ; there was scarcely a 
semblance of it. On the contrary, consciousness became 
more and more intensified ; instead of sensation being dead- 
ened, every avenue of sensation was quickened, and the con- 
sciousness of spirit life mingled with the consciousness of a 
fading earthly life. That which is called the fading away of 
external consciousness is merely the superseding of external 
consciousness by spiritual consciousness. There are spirits 
who experience what may be termed a semi-consciousness, aris- 
ing more from bewilderment than from any lack of activity in 
the mind ; but this state differs with each individual spirit. 
When the spirit recedes from the body, it is becoming 
awakened in another life. The period of rest that some 
minds experience is caused by the change of condition from 
earthly to spirit life, and, like any sudden shock, it leaves the 
mind without remembrance, nothing vivid, and the spirit 
might suppose that it had been unconscious during that 
period 

I was met by one whom I will call my other mother, and 
by my immediate personal friends, some of whom were rel- 
atives, some were not. There is in spirit life, and even on 
the first awakening in spirit life, a consciousness of recogni- 



216 IMMORTALITY. 

tion of those whom we have mentally known. I mean by 
this, those whose works we have read with interest, whose 
teachings we have followed, and the companions of our sol- 
itude, whom we have not seen in form, but whose minds are 
one with ours. These meet us in spirit life ; and I found my. 
self received by those with whom I had communed only 
through their writings or works on earth 

My clothing was drapery ; I was conscious of that, and that 
it did not take the stereotyped form of earthly raiment ; but 
I thought little of it, excepting that when a thought of de- 
light pervaded the mind on each new recognition of a spirit 
friend, there would be a vibration throughout the whole 
frame which communicated itself to the drapery and to the 
atmosphere around me. That our friends are prepared to re- 
ceive us in spirit life is certain ; but spirit clothing, that which 
they adorn us with, that which is seen by many spirits [clair- 
voyants] in the form of raiment, is in reality their affections 
manifesting themselves upon the atmosphere that like a shin- 
ing light surrounds us ; and as our raiment is woven not of ma- 
terial fabric, but of the aggregation of spiritual substances, so 
the thought and sympathy of our friends adorn us ; we wear 
it as shining raiment ; atmosphere illumines and surrounds us ; 
we are clothed in atmospheres. . . . 

Spirits can and do pass through any and every substance 
called " solid substance " on earth. Organic matter has no 
effect upon inorganic spirit. As spirit is inorganic, it cannot 
be disintegrated ; and as spirit essence, or form, is more subtile 
than any solid substance, so spirit can at will pass into and 
out of a room though it were made of iron, glass, steel, or the 
most solid and compact substance. Spirit can and does pass 
into and out of prisons, caverns, recesses of any and every 
kind. There is no impediment in matter to the progress of 
the spirit. The only impediment existing is the lack of 
knowledge or volition. A spirit may be prevented from pass- 
ing into a room by believing that it cannot do so ; but if the 
spirit has the knowledge that matter is not an obstruction, 
and an earnest desire to be in the presence of any person, it 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 217 

finds that the material wall is no obstacle, and that the desire 
or will is stronger than any organic obstruction. There is no 
atmospheric or other resistance to the progress of the spirit 
through space and matter. 

Perhaps it might be well to elaborate this still further. As 
sympathy is the law that measurably governs spirit, and as 
every force employed by the spirit is a mental force acting upon 
the physical if a physical demonstration is required, so the 
relationship of a disembodied spirit to all organic or embodied 
substances is the relation of a positive power to negative 
power, and the negative is not in any sense an obstruction or 
obstacle to the passage of the spirit from one point to another. 
The only obstruction is when a spirit wishes to control mat- 
ter for intelligent conversation with embodied minds; resist- 
ance then has effect, not upon the spirit, but upon the mani- 
festation that the spirit may wish to make. Spirit being 
inorganic, not having in any sense generic or other material 
conformation, is not subject to disintegration. There is no 
danger of its dissolution ; the particles flow together freely ; 
there is nothing in the nature of matter that can dissever the 
particles. '^Therefore, as light passes through a transparent 
substance, all substances are transparent to the passage of 
spirit, excepting only a counter-volition. ^"A spirit may be 
prevented from entering a room, not by walls, not by glass or 
metals, not by solid substances or barred doors, but by the 
volition, or resistance, or unwillingness or uncongeniality, of 
the minds of those present. . . . 

The spiritual man is not disorganized or disintegrated. The 
body experiences disorganization, and death is the emphatic 
signet seal of that dissolution. The spirit, however, remains. 
As I stated, my spirit was already clothed. I experienced an 
added sensation of life, but no dissolution in the sense of spir- 
itual disintegration. The body recedes ; the tide is at ebb. 
The spirit, as the flood-tide is in possession of all that it has, 
retains that, takes its own atmosphere to spirit life, and is 
adorned through sympathy, affection, intelligence, and such 
other mental experiences as follow immediately after death. 



218 » IMMORTALITY. 

As for dissolution or disorganization of the spirit form for the 
purpose of withdrawal from the physical body, it would be 
just as sensible to say that a man is disorganized when he 
takes off his clothing at night. The one important point for 
the world to understand is that every spirit exists as a spirit, 
although possessing a material body ; that the change called 
death does not create either the spirit or the spirit-form. We 
can well understand that persons witnessing the process of 
dissolution from the material side of existence, even with clair- 
voyant vision, might suppose the spirit-form to be an emana- 
tion in particles from the physical body. Such is the illusion 
incident upon inhabiting the material form, and looking even 
with clairvoyant vision from the material standpoint; but 
such is not the case from the spiritual side. The difference is 
like the difference between standing beneath the clouds and 
above them. . . . 

The spiritual spheres do not surround the earth in the sense 
sometimes taught, and there is not an appreciable line of de- 
markation in any ph} T sical or other sense known to man be- 
tween them. A spiritual sphere is the radius or atmosphere 
of a mental condition, of a spiritual unfoldment. In the same 
apartment on earth the celestial and terrestrial spheres — 
meaning the highest and lowest spiritual conditions — may 
both be found. Spirits representing the terrestrial state may 
hover by attraction more near to the earth; but there is no 
belt or layer — rather, cloud-spots, seen from the other side, 
accumulations of spirit atmospheres that are dense in certain 
localities, and that change their locality with the change of 
interest or attraction. These blots, or patches, communicate 
with corresponding spiritual states in other localities than the 
earth, chiefly other planets ; and there are lines of darkness cor- 
responding to the lines of light that connect higher or angelic 
states together. Nor are these lines fixed ; nor do they al- 
ways occupy the same point in space. A spiritual sphere is 
present this evening in correspondence with the mind or 
minds controlling these utterances. We say, this is the sphere 
of the band controlling the medium. Now, this is not fixed ; 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 219 

we are not obliged to be here unless we have something to 
do; and our sphere may pass from one point to another of the 
earth without either being disturbed as a sphere, or without 
leaving any especial trace or mark that can be delineated 
physically. 

A spiritual sphere is the radius of the activity of the minds 
composing it ; it may be large or small, potent or otherwise, 
according to unfoldment. There are, so far as we can learn, 
neither arbitrary boundaries, limits in space, nor are there 
arbitrary numbers to the spheres. Seven spheres, twelve 
spheres, any harmonic number serves as a representation of 
the stages of spiritual growth; and there are certain stages 
that are better denoted by these numbers than others. It is, 
therefore, customary to describe spirit spheres in numbers, 
the better for the understanding of earthly minds than from 
any arbitrary or fixed number in spirit life; but as there are 
certain cycles that only numbers can represent, spirits do, in 
describing ultimate states, employ numbers, the better to 
designate when those spirit states have reached their culmi- 
nation. But spirit spheres extend in various and not arbi- 
trary lines ; are rather currents from the earth to any and 
every planet or interstellar point in space where the spirits 
composing that sphere may have work to perform. 

" A house not made with hands eternal in the heavens." 
This quotation best describes a spirit habitation. Eternal 
means that thought is lasting; that every impression or vibra- 
tion of the mind produces an effect on the atmosphere with 
which the spirit is associated; that locality with reference to 
the astronomical or atmospheric condition is not essential. 
The house or home of the spirit must be essentially composed 
of the substance surrounding the spirit, must be of the nature 
required by the spirit, and must be in the locality of the spir- 
it's usefulness or labor. As heat and cold, winter and sum- 
mer, poverty and riches, starvation and excess, changes of 
every physical kind, have no effect upon the spirit; as the 
spirit does net require to be protected against the sun's rays, 
or the wintry frosts and tempests ; so our habitations are com- 



220 IMMORTALITY. 

posed of just such substances, and are in just such localities 
as our spiritual necessities demand. What are those ? Ac- 
tivitj. The mind never sleeps; the spirit never ceases to 
act. Therefore we are not in need of a fixed habitation 
where we shall lay off the burdens of material cares, and 
rest or sleep, as mortals do. I speak only for myself. Another 
of our spiritual necessities is the existence and presence of 
those for whom we have an affection. Our habitations, there- 
fore, are largely our affections. We live in those ; they form 
the atmosphere surrounding us. That atmosphere takes shapes 
of beauty, of variety, of light, of shade, of architectural pro- 
portion, of art, of color, of line, of form, according to our 
affections ; and we do not build for the sake of building, nor 
to witness as a spectacle the structure that we have reared. 
Whatever there is of edifice or picture, of art or landscape, 
in the atmosphere of our home, is the result of our lives, of 
our endeavor, of the action and thought that make up our 
existence.. 

Our home is now here, because our atmosphere is here, and 
you would see the spiritual atmosphere of this habitation per- 
vaded by us and by this presence. The' next point of our 
labor will be the point of our spiritual habitation then. If it 
shall be some friend on earth, there will be our home for the 
time being; if it is some spirit sphere that we must visit, 
some other condition of spirit life to endeavor to alleviate, 
then wherever we find that spirit there will be the home for 
the time being. There is no conflict of location, no appro- 
priation of others' possessions. Uncongenial spheres cannot 
meet nor blend ; they resist each other and separate ; there is 
no occupation of one another's premises. I can only possess 
that which is mine. My home is my spiritual labor, my con- 
sciousness, my atmosphere, my surroundings ; they go with 
me ; they do not remain anywhere when I am absent ; they 
are my possessions ; they abide with me for ever. . . . 

Spirits in close sympathy with earthly life cultivate fields 
and gardens. Their spirit spheres, their habitations, their 
occupations, are prototypes of what is on the earth, because 



MANY VOICES FEOM THE SPIRIT LAND. 221 

they know nothing different. They still perform the labor, 
still exist in its atmosphere, are absorbed by its presence, and 
possess the things that have earthly existence. To such as 
these, every object wears the form of earthly life, or of a similar 
object in earthly life, and the habits or methods of earthly 
existence are, to a very great extent, repeated in their spiritual 
life ; but, as I state, their spirit home then is upon the earth. 

In other words, to bring this statement within a compact 
and comprehensive form, that existence called objective on 
earth has no reality in spirit life, while that existence called 
subjective on earth is the objective in spirit. Our thoughts, 
our affections, our memories, our aspirations, our prayers, 
these are the objects of existence in spirit. Houses and lands, 
gardens and flowers, organic life in every variety, become the 
subjective with us. We have them, if our affections require 
them ; we have them not v if our thoughts are beyond, or en- 
gaged in other directions. . . . 

All forms of animated life come under the description in 
the answer to the previous question. There is no organic 
growth, animal or vegetable life, in high spiritual existence. 
By organic, I mean generic physical growth. Every form of 
beauty, every bird, tree, flower, landscape, temple, is the re- 
sult of some immediate action of mind, or intelligence, upon 
the atmosphere ; and upon the particles composing that atmos- 
phere of spirit life are the living pictures of the minds in- 
habiting that existence. They are not of themselves separate 
and apart from human entities, as birds and flowers and trees 
are on earth, seeming to exist, whether man ever beholds 
them or not. We have no forests unexplored, no birds that 
sing their songs and waste their brightness, on an atmosphere 
unseen of man. Whatever birds are messengers; whatever 
flowers are offerings of peace or deeds of love ; whatever 
temples are consecrated actions to liberty, or truth, or justice, 
or religion ; whatever object of loveliness is the expression of 
some thought, born in the affections of the spirit .... 

We consider God, the infinite personality, the infinite intel- 
ligence of the universe, both center and circumference, that 



222 IMMORTALITY. 

which is within and without, pervading the whole, guiding 
the whole, possessing the whole, aware of the whole, the in- 
finite personality. Man's personality is within, is within that 
infinitude ; it certainly cannot be outside of it ; but the man 
is not that infinitude, because he is finite. The word central 
cannot apply to infinitude, any more than circumference. 
That which belongs to infinitude is the whole ; yet I would 
have it distinctly understood that we believe in the infinite 
individuality. The fact of its infinitude does not detract 

from the individuality 

A decided change from phenomena to spirit, from body to 
substance, Spiritualism has passed its second, and is now in 
its third stage of expression. The first, and second, and third 
were simultaneously manifested ; but the first and second 
have had their day of reigning ; that is, the wave of each has 
reached its apex, or climax, and is now receding. Spiritual- 
ism is a threefold power in its present form, and will always 
possess the threefold attributes of appealing to the external 
consciousness of man by tangible expression, of appealing to 
the intellectual consciousness of man by methods of reason 
and induction, of appealing to the spiritual and religious con- 
sciousness of man by individual intuition and experiences of 
spiritual gifts. The manifestations- through spiritual gifts to 
others, constitute the first ; the intellectual acceptance of 
philosophy and phenomena, constitute the second ; the third 
and abiding power is that which is now gaining the ascend- 
ency, beyond manifestation, beyond expression of intellect 
— is the voice of the divine spirit, the living testimony; and 
Spiritualism merges more and more into this voice. The 
phenomena would be valueless without this ; the philosophy 
would be a dead letter, and as empty as many philosophies of 
earth. The spirit pervading the whole, partakes more of 
the nature of a universal religion, a religion that is not en- 
shrined in dogma, creed, sect, definition, denomination, but 
expresses itself in the uniform fullness of appreciation of 
Deity as a spirit infinite, and man as a finite spirit. Spirit- 
ualism will not drift into sectarianism. There is too much 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND, 223 

space. The apertures in the temple are too largely op°n to- 
wards the sunlight. Whosoever seeks to build a creed, will 
build it of another name, and another material than Spiritual- 
ism. Several have already been builded, or attempted, but 
they are not called Spiritualism. The word in itself is a per- 
petual testimony against creed-building. It is wide, high, 
broad, deep, inclusive ; it means everything pertaining to the 
spirit of God or man, and therefore it cannot be builded into 
a creed. The perpetual influx of spiritual life into human 
existence is embodied in its thought. It will therefore solve 
the mysteries. Its present tendency is to find out the points 
of resemblance in religions, philosophies, and all ages of the 
earth, uniting them in its power. It is a solvent, like the 
sunlight, like the atmosphere, and can no more be dwarfed, 
limited, confined, set apart, than these. The more you are 
pervaded by it, the less you are likely to build creeds. The 
more you are filled with its spirit, its essence, its power, the 
less personal do you become. It exalts the personality and 
the idea of Deity. You become impersonal while you become 
exceedingly individual. Individuality is cultivated, person- 
ality is forgotten. The spirit is unfolded, the man is devel- 
oped in his highest and fullest sense, but the human creature, 
the worm, is exalted to the butterfly. Spiritualism entering 
its third aspect is inclusive. It at first was simply a man- 
ifestation, next a disintegrator ; it is now inclusive, or uni- 
versal. 

Consciousness while dying ; the Non-Disintegration of the Spir- 
itual Body; Conditions and Limitations in Spirit Life; 
the Homes of Immortalized Beings, and Employments in the 
Infinite Beyond. From a Controlling Spirit influencing Mr. 
H. B. Champion, of Philadelphia, in reply to a series of 
Questions. 

It is about thirty-five years since I entered spirit life. I was 
not wholly unconscious — only partially so in the process of 
dying. It seemed as though I was awaking from a long and 
profound slumber. As I beheld new scenes, new forms, and 



224 IMMORTALITY. 

features, I seemed to be ushered into a new existence so 
gently that the change was hardly perceptible. 

I have no hesitancy in saying there is no dissolution, no 
disintegration of the spiritual body, in passing from the earthly 
to the spiritual existence of immortality. 

In reply to your fourth question I would say that my home 
proper is beyond the earth's atmosphere. Home to the truly 
spiritual is where the greatest good can be accomplished. 
This is what imparts to the soul the highest degree of pleas- 
ure and happiness, the consciousness of having conferred good 
upon others. . . . All the endearments that encircle our 
earthly lives are intensified in the spiritual. In earth-life 
motive prompts and circumstance directs; but in spirit life 
action is not confined to objects or designs that are circum- 
scribed, consequently it is a voluntary offering to God and 
duty. Our home is our happiness; our happiness is in well- 
doing. . . . 

I have a fixed habitation, the same, comparatively speaking, 
that I had when on earth, not that is necessarily the same 
in architectural design or purpose. Whatever is necessary 
is as attainable with us as with those in earth-life ; but the 
methods and means for their procurement differ. Matter is 
subject to the control of will to that degree that all we desire 
is immediately subservient to our wishes, to the extent that 
our necessities require, and that is made available for the 
good of others. . . . 

My home in my present sphere is ever being made by my- 
self, and not by another for me. It is truly a home not made 
with hands. In earth-life we often see subjectively as well 
as objectively. It is in the former sense, as compared with 
the earth, that I would have you understand me spiritually 
when speaking of a fixed habitation or home. . . . My home 
is located in the sphere of consciousness that surrounds my 
true selfhood. As to its relation to earth, its distance is 
measured by the inherent worth that enables me to rise 
above all earthly and selfish considerations. 

Your seventh question, as to my having visited other plan- 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 225 

ets, is vague and unsatisfactory. I know of no better way to. 
express myself than to say that my experiences in spirit life 
have been similar to those of earth-life. Your clairvoyants 
and seers live often in other spheres, and catch glimpses of 
other worlds. They are certain and yet uncertain. The truths 
live in them because they exist. We are borne, whither we 
cannot tell in a subjective sense, to that which we cannot 
define or express. I will answer this query by saying I have 
visited places at vast distances, and have found them inhab- 
ited; but I would be understood as presenting this as a sub- 
jective reality, and not an objective one of a nature that can 
impart unquestioned surety of its truth. Limitation sets 
bounds to all finite understanding, and we must be under- 
stood as expressing the measure of our experience and no 
more. 

As a personality, I have not seen Christ; as a principle, 
I have. As the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, 
even so was the Son of Man lifted up, that through his like- 
ness might be seen the truth of what is possible to man 
through the divine instrumentalities of nature and her un- 
varying law. . . . 

There are insects and animals in spirit life. All spirit is 
life, and all life is spirit ; but we too often let form take the 
precedence of fact, and look to appearance only. Form is not. 
life in its true sense. The material form is not the real man. 
The real man is never seen externally, but is in the back- 
ground. Form is merely the index finger of reality pointing 
to the source, but is not the source itself: consequently we 
typify our thoughts, and often give expression to ideas that 
are superficial, not real. ... 

If infinite law governs the universe of being, and change is 
written heaven-wide, why should we suppose that animal or 
insect life is an exception ? If man has a material body and a 
spiritual body, and at death comes forth full-fledged in a 
spiritual body, why should there not be a corresponding 
change in animal and insect life? Are we to suppose that 
one portion of creative force and energy expends itself, and 
15 



226 IMMORTALITY. 

acts only partially. There is the same corresponding change 
in the one that there is in the other. . . . 

A man that has lived in the tropics will tell yon that there 
are no polar hears in spirit life, because he never sensed their 
existence while in earth life. This accounts for much that is 
contradictory in spirit utterances. All may be equally honest 
uttering their highest thought, and still diametrically opposed 
to each other in regard to the same thing. . . . What is sub- 
jective to man in earth-life is objective or real in spirit life. 
"We have the same experience correspondingly as to other 
planets in a subjective sense as we do in regard to animal or 
insect life. They are as real and as tangible with us as in 
earth -life. . . . 

Your question as to how far Spiritualism may become a 
power in the land as an organization is one that presages 
events that lay wrapped in the womb of time. I will, how- 
ever, express my opinion. It will never be a success, or what 
the world denominates as such, for the following reasons : It 
is opposed to the inherent nature of man as associated with 
spiritual intelligences. He cannot confine and square spirit- 
ual realities and experiences by any known standard ; he 
may recognize general known principles that involve impor- 
tant facts, but he cannot compass them. Like the mind, we 
know of its existence and exercise, but can you organize it or 
square it to set methods and rule ? Think of the desolation 
and blood that has ingulfed every age of the world's history 
in its attempts to organize religious institutions, and mankind 
have only progressed and become great and good as they have 
proved failures. 

Organization is desirable when wisely directed for that 
which appertains to material necessities, but to organize spirit 
or spiritual influences would be like organizing the wind. 
You might as well organize space or time, or aught else that 
is undefmable, as to transcend the limits of materiality in that 
direction. You may organize for a purpose, and call that pur- 
pose spiritual. You can as well call it by any other name ; it 
would be just as effectual. Organizations are man-made in- 



MANY VOICES FEOM THE SPIEIT LAND. 227 

stitutions, not heaven-ordained. If we would ever keep this 
distinction in view, they would be estimated at their true 
value. Spiritualism is the communion of soul with soul; it 
is the touch-stone from off the altar of infinity ; it is the con- 
scious mirror of reality that admits of no substitute ; it is 
older than proxies, pastors, or organizations ; it is the God of 
truth enthroned in humanity. Organizations may pave the 
pathway to the fountain, but cannot reach the fountain itself. 
All organizations that have assumed or proposed to teach 
with authority the ways of God have been a fraud upon hu- 
manity, a barricade against justice and truth. All truth must 
live, and all error must cease to exist ; therefore truth must 
triumph over wrong. Organizations that assume more than 
the secular interests of mankind will facie and fall as an apple 
of ashes in the hands of an-enlightened humanity. God speed 
the day ! 

Excursions in the Spirit World. 

B. B. Wirt, a well-read gentleman and scholar, engaged in 
public teaching for over twenty years in the vicinity of Wil- 
loughby, Ohio, has for the past nine j T ears been vividly con- 
scious of frequently leaving his body, and traversing the 
marvelous spaces of spirit life. 

Upon the first occasion it was about two o'clock in the 
morning. He was absent from his body one hour. He pre- 
fers to be by himself at these times, as the least jar or dis- 
cordant voice affects him unpleasantly. 

Asking him for descriptions of spirit life, and his sensations 
when temporarily leaving the body, he replied : " I desire, and 
become conscious that I am about to leave. I feel that my 
body is not me, but my dwelling-place. I wish to have every- 
thing around me calm and quiet. After a few moments I feel 
the approach of spirit intelligences. They seem to be of a 
positive character. The impression deepens that I am going 
out of my fleshly form. Seemingly, I float out and away 
from it, and if not fully, am at least semi-conscious of the 
process. 



228 IMMORTALITY. 

" I now look back and see the body lying in bed, or repos- 
ing upon the sofa. And further, I see a silvery cord or chain 
connecting my spiritual body, or myself, with the earthly body. 
It matters not how rapidly nor how far I go, there is no sever- 
ance of this sympathetic chain. After becoming accustomed 
to these excursions I observed things more closely, and even 
so far experimented as to find that I could pass through doors, 
windows, walls, and strata of matter. Seen at a distance, 
solid walls seem like mist. Often I have passed through 
them without noticing them. 

"A band of sympathetic, yet positive, spirits attend, assisting 
me in my travels and explorations. Many times, my teachers 
leading the way, have I passed directly through the earth. 
These experiences proved to me that no forms of matter nor 
intense heat could harm me." 

Are you very sure, Mr. Wirt, that you actually leave your 
body ? A few claiming some prominence in spiritualism have 
denied the possibility. 

" Denial is of little importance when put in opposition to 
experience. If I am conscious of any realit} r , if I know anj^- 
thing absolutely, I know that I have left my body not only 
scores, but hundreds of times. I can visit any place on the 
earth, and can go to some of the planets — others I cannot. 
There seems to be no rapport. They affect me strangely. . . . 
I've seen immense continents of unresolved nebulse floating 
or suspended between the attractive forces of stellar systems, 
something as clouds are held between the upper and lower 
atmospheric currents. . . . I've traveled so far off into the 
distance that I could not see our sun ; and yet, looming in 
what you would call the background, were stars, suns, and 
constellations, dotting measureless immensities. . . . While 
on these voyages, relieved of my mortal body, I've investi- 
gated and studied the grades and conditions of spirits in the 
spirit world. There are those that you maj^ well call earth- 
bound spirits. Though permanently out of their earthly bod- 
ies, their desires and affections are earthly. They are very 
low. They are not only mischievous, but selfish and mali- 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 229 

cious. They can see those on their own plain, but not high 
exalted spirits. Ancient seers and sages seldom come to our 
earth. Bright and beautiful spirits dwell afar from the earth 
on radiant zones or aural belts of sublimated substance diver- 
sified with mountains and valleys, forests and fields, placid 
lakes and silvery streams, lawns, gardens, and bowers of 

roses." 

The Fouivtain-of-Light City. 

" I have made hundreds of excursions to a city — my future 
home — called the ' Fountain of Light.' I will not pretend 
to compute the distance of this city from the earth; and yet 
I go to it in a few seconds. It is, I should judge, about one 
hundred miles square. Its parks, four in number, are mag- 
nificent. There are fountains in these parks, the sprays and 
drops of which in the spirit-sunshine glitter like diamonds. 
The city is laid out with perfect regularitj^. The streets are 
very wide. The lawns are velvety green, flecked with flowers 
and blossoming vines. The structures average two and three 
stories. They reveal individualities. No two are just alike. 
Each mansion is a palace, and each palace is a temple of art. 
The walls to those outside are translucent. In evening time 
they are lighted by artificial lights. Often have I been in 
these palaces. The majority peopling this city are devoted to 
educational interests; and it seems to me to be one grand 
university, the employment being teaching and being taught.'' 

A Residence in the Fountain-of-Light City. 

" Deficiency of language renders my descriptions imperfect. 
I will try. A palace-home that I have often entered is com- 
posed externally of an ethereal cream-colored substance, 
resembling, though far excelling, any Italian marble. I had 
previously seen the quarry from which the material was hewn 
by willing workmen. The house, though but two stories, 
reached up exceedingly high, and was constructed upon the 
principle of the cube. It had graceful towers at the corners, 
and was crowned with a grand and towering dome. On the 
first floor w^as a large reception-room, containing many pic- 



230 IMMORTALITY. 

tures of both mortals and immortals. The walls were taste- 
fully frescoed ; there were also ornaments and finely-chiseled 
statues. On the same floor was a musical apartment, and a 
library of books, and quaint scrolls. The upper rooms were 
for students, and more private. No two rooms were precisely 
alike. Connected with this building were culinary depart- 
ments. At regular seasons they had their repasts. I have 
seen their tables spread in wondrous luxury, — flowers, odors, 
honeys, tropical fruits, and delicacies unknown to earth. I 
have seen their fires, their kitchens, and their servants ; but 
their servants were willing subjects, desiring their positions 
for the sake of improvement. I have joined their repasts, 
partaking of their foods, drinks, nectars, and life-giving 
balms. 

" I have never seen serpents nor beasts of prey in spirit life ; 
but have seen birds of beautiful plumage, and animals, under 
the control of spirits. Though almost infinitely more ethe- 
real, everything is just as substantial as upon earth. 

"The ' Fountain-of-Light ' City lies on the shores of Silver- 
Wave Lake. One of the fountains is called 4 Dripping Dia- 
monds,' and one of the glittering streets is named 'Rose- 
fringed Avenue.' Names here are expressive of qualities. 

' Oh, what a wondrous life is ours ! 

To dwell within this earthly range, 
Yet parley with the heavenly powers — 
Two worlds in interchange.' " 

An Eccentric Asiatic Spirit. 
During my sojourn in southern India, on the second visit to 
that most interesting country, I met a Brahmanical seer, who 
ministered in a Sivaite temple, devoting a portion of Friday 
to the casting out of demons. He was a truly devout man, 
and for a Brahman, catholic in spirit, touching the religions 
of other countries and other ages. He also devoted special 
seasons to prayers and long fasts ; after which he passed into 
a deep interior trance state, becoming the instrument of spirit 
control. Only a few of the tried and the worthy knew of 
his gift. 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 231 

After a few weeks of pleasant acquaintance, he consented, 
being pressingly urged, to go into his unconscious trance 
condition, which, according to the interpreter, was equivalent 
to a "transient death-sleep." 

He first burned incense, offered prayers, appeared trem- 
ulous, the head whirling, then spasmodic ; and then becoming, 
so far as I could discover, utterly unconscious, he began to 
speak, or rather the controlling intelligence did, in a soft, 
musical, unknown tongue. 

" Can you speak English ? " I inquired. 

He answered promptly in the affirmative ; but added, " I 
prefer another language ; you have an interpreter." 

I then asked him many important questions, the nature of 
which will be readily understood by the answers. 

How long in spirit life ? Time, what is it ? 

" Why ask ? Time should be measured by aims and holy acts 
performed. Why do men remain so long but children in wisdom? 

" My name, you would not know its import should I give it. 
In this land, where you now walk a stranger, and where I 
had a birth, names originally meant something ; but in the 
west, among English-speaking people, they imply nothing of 
qualities or purposes. You may call me Mystic. I dwell in 
the infinitudes. Judge me by what I teach. 

" I did not die, but swooned into another cyclic mode of life. 
There was gladness among friends at my coming. I was 
fully myself at once, and, oh, how delightful to breathe ! 

" A venerable spirit of most benignant countenance, a sage 
on earth, a seraph now, approaching mildly, suggested that 
we pass away, and on to the peace-lands of rest. I was 
borne in a chariot-like palanquin festooned with flowers, and 
my soul was full of gratitude to God. Consciousness knows 
God, as the eye knows light, as the senses sense appearances. 
Your earth is the shadow-land of phenomena ; ours is the real 
land of permanence. 

" Reaching the valley of ' Silent Repose,' near the ' Quiet 
Villa of Love,' I was left in the ' Temple of Judgment,' — for 
reflection. Memory seemed quickened, and the checkered life 



232 ENUMOETAUTY. 

on earth passed before me like a speaking vision. My con- 
science seemed only another name for compensation. The 
inmost books were opened. I was before the throne of judg- 
ment. I wept. And while thus weeping and lamenting, a calm 
angelic presence drawing near, said, ' I am your teacher, 
why do you weep ? Tears will not return you your lost time, 
nor remedy the past.' His presence was so overpowering, 
and his tones of voice so tender, that my tears flowed the 
more freely. 

" ' Come,' said he, a pleasant smile softening every feature 
of his face, 4 let us away to the fountain of purity. Let us 
away, that you may drink of the waters of life.' . . . 

" We soon reached the radiant spot. The fountain of heal- 
ing that bubbled up was met by what appeared like a silvery 
river flowing down through a rift of gorgeous clouds ; and 
standing near, were glorified beings arrayed in white, save 
their beaming girdles of gold. 

" I bathed in these weird waters, received the new name, 
the Seven Stars, and was clothed in another garment, indi- 
cating my employment. The texture of this raiment corres- 
ponded to my spiritual attainments. . . . 

"I surprise you, do I, by my familiarity with the symbols 
and figures of the New Testament, especially those of the 
Apocalypse. Why so ? Is not God one ? Did not all religious 
systems have a common origin ? Did not this country cradle 
one of the oldest ? And do you not consider that the Christian 
religion, relieved of its world-imposed excrescences, is the 
purest and most divine? . . - Further, for many years I 
have in a degree guarded and impressed one of England's 
proudest scholars ; in his linguistic researches I fathom the 
depths of his soul. 

" The truly and unselfishly good on earth, whether born in 
the pensive East or positive West, not only meet and mingle 
in the higher realms of the blest, but they admit the truth 
of what the New Testament apostle taught, that 4 Christ 
was the wisdom of God and the power of God.' All highly 
advanced, or angelic spirits, so far as I know, consider Jesus 



MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 233 

Christ the Son of God and the great antagonist of Satan. I 
call to your remembrance these words of Paul : ' My little 
children, for whom I travel in birth again.' For what? 
Observe the answer : ' Until Christ be formed in you.' 
Surely, Christ was life, and that 'Life is the Light of Men.' 
Your world and ours are but one, or at most two links of 
one chain. . . . 

" Speaking as a spirit, spiritually, Jesus Christ is the ruling 
Prince of your planet — the reflection of the invisible God — 
the * Way, the Truth, and the Life ' eternal ! . . . 

11 It is doubtless true, as you say, that there are men on earth 
who deny the very existence of Jesus Christ. And so there 
are proud, selfish, and self-sufficient spirits down in the Tar- 
tarean regions of darkness, who deny Christ, deny all truth, 
deny and sneer at all helps, and all the higher instructions of 
the heavens. Their imagined wisdom is folly. . . . 

"Now, it is not singular that individuals in whom intellect 
predominates over spirituality and intuition, should utterly 
ignore the soul's pre-existence. But which is first, the musi- 
cian, or the harp ? the imposing palace, or the architect ? the 
earthly body, or the soul ? The truth upon this subject, as 
taught in our spiritual heaven, is this : The soul, allied to 
God, is the conscious intelligence — the enthroned life ; and 
as such, it builds its earthly habitation. It can live without 
it, for it existed prior to it. It entered into it at will, and 
can leave it, when rightly conditioned, previous to the com- 
plete separation and transition. 

" Your Scriptures not only affirm that the soul of Jesus 
Christ ' was before Abraham,' as a mortal ; but they teach 
that 'Levi paid tithes in Abraham, for he was in the loins of 
his father when Melchizedec met him.' Here the actual 
Levi is represented, not only as living a pre-existent germinal 
life, but as literally acting some two hundred years before his 
birth into the external world. 

u You ask, do you, what mortals most need to fit them for 
heaven ? 

" More trust in God, more faith in prayer, more true culture, 



234 IMMORTALITY. 

more self-sacrifice, more humility, more meekness, more med- 
itation, and a deeper conviction of sin ! 

" Are not the angels of God pure? then must you become 
pure, before you can associate with them. 

"Are not the angels honest and just? then must you be 
just to become their companions. 

" Are not the angels truthful and calm ? then must you be 
such, before you can stand in their midst. 

"Are not the angels those who have 'overcome'? then 
must you overcome the passions and the pride of life, ere 
you can with them eat of the tree of life. 

"Are not the angels serene, pure-minded, and holy? then 
must you become pure, and loving, and holy, before you can 
enter the 'holy of holies,' and abide with angels of God." 

The reverential spirit of the above teachings reminded me 
of these sweet, plaintive lines of Father Byan, the poet, 
priest, and mystic : 

" I walk clown the Valley of Silence, 

Down the dim, voiceless valley — alone ! 
And I hear not the fall of footstep 

Around me — save God's and my own ! 
And the hush of my heart is as holy 

As hovers where angels have flown. 

Long ago was I weary of voices 

Whose music my heart could not win ; 
Long ago I was weary of noises 

That fretted my soul with their din ; 
Long ago was I weary of places 

Where I met but the Human and Sin. 

I walked through the world with the worldly ; 

I craved what the world never gave ; 
And I said : ' In the world each Ideal, 

That shines like a star on life's wave, 
Is toned on the shores of the Real, 

And sleeps like a dream in a grave.' 

And still did I pine for the Perfect, 

And still found the false with the true ; 
I sought 'mid the Human of Heaven, 

But caught a mere glimpse of the blue ; 
And I wept when the clouds of the Mortal 

Veiled even that glimpse from my view. 






MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 235 

And I toiled on, heart-tired of the Human; 

And I moaned 'mid the mazes of men; 
Till I knelt long ago at an altar, 

And heard a voice call me ; since then 
I walk clown the Valley of Silence 

That lies far beyond mortal ken. 

Do you ask what I found in the valley ? 

'Tis my trysting-place with the divine ; 
And I fell at the feet of the angel, 

And about me a voice said, ' Be mine ! ' 
And then rose from the depths of my spirit 

An echo : ' My heart shall be thine.' 

Do you ask how I live in the valley ? 

I weep, and I dream, and I pray ; 
But my tears are as sweet as the dewdrops 

That fall on the roses in May ; 
And my prayer, like a perfume from censer, 

Ascendeth to God night and day. 

In the hush of the Valley of Silence 

I dream all the songs that I sing ; 
And the music floats down the dim valley, 

Till each finds a word for a wing, 
That to men, like the doves of the Deluge, 

The message of Peace they may bring. 

But far on the deep there are billows 

That never shall break on the beach ; 
And I have heard songs in the silence 

That never shall float into speech ; 
And I have had dreams in the valley 

Too lofty for language to reach. 

And I have seen souls in the valley — 

Ah, me ! how my spirit was stirred ! 
And they wear holy veils on their faces — 

Their footsteps can scarcely be heard ; 
They pass through the valley, like virgins 

Too pure for the touch of a word. 

Do you ask me the place of the valley, 

Ye hearts that are harrowed by care ? 
It lieth afar between mountains, 

And God and His angels are there ; 
And one is the dark mound of sorrow, 

And one the bright mountain of prayer." 



236 IMMOKTALITY. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES OF MANY IN SPIRIT 

LIFE. 

"The Heavens are a point from the pen of God's Perfection; the World is a hud 
from the flower of His Beauty ; the Sun is a spark from the light of His "Wisdom, and 
the Sky is a buhble on the sea of His Power. He made mirrors of the atoms of the 
world, and threw the reflection from His own face on eveiy atom." Zoroaster. 

" From the surf-beaten beach and the white terror of underlying reefs ; from battle- 
fields, where life was flung away as if it had no value ; from palace, house, and 
cottage-bed, from study and street, from eveiy locality beneath that rolling sun, men 
have gone up. . . . And all these — the strong, the passionate, and the loving — took 
all their powers and feelings with them. Upon the smaller the larger life was on the 
instant grafted. They did find their growth ' in the twinkling of an eye.' They were 
all changed as the bud is changed when it blossoms, as the sun is changed when it 
sails out from behind the veil of the eclipse. There was no lapse of power, no inter- 
ruption of the faculties, no cessation of thought, no ebb to the majestic current of 
their lives in death." W. H. H. Murray. 

Everything physical is infilled with spirit life, and has 
its counterpart in the spiritual : the physical body is but the 
soul's instrument for a little season. All sensations, all 
thought, reason, and moral responsibility, pertain to the inner 
man, which we term the soul. You will find that ranks and 
honors avail nothing, when waking into our more real sphere 
of life. 

When seen that every atom, every pebble, every mineral, 
every vegetable, every animal, is insphered with its own 
aura, you may understand that there is a talismanic medium 
of invisible communication, detectible by sensitive persons. 
Your clothing is pervaded by your aural emanations. Con- 
sumptive persons weave sickness into their garments. Accord- 
ingly the vestures of the sick, as w T ell as old tattered gar- 
ments, should be buried, or burned. 

The human soul, like the life of everything that is sen- 



CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 237 

tient, has attributes of its own ; this evolves an odorous 
atmosphere, exactly in correspondence with its inner affec- 
tions. Angels sense this at a glance. 

Colors have their correspondences in our sphere of immor- 
tality ; these report the mental and moral status of the 
individual. Spirits and mortals are therefore seen in diversely 
colored habiliments. In persons who are gross and sensual, 
the colors emitted are dark and hazy ; the clothing of some 
spirits is dull and murky; around the merely intellectual it 
is clear and positive, with bluish shadings ; while around the 
spiritual, loving, and harmonial, it is bright and silvery, mel- 
lowing off into the golden. When Cornelius was praying, a 
man stood before him in bright clothing ; the light that shone 
round about Paul, after his conversion, was above the bright- 
ness of the sun ; and John of Patmos perceived that those 
who had overcome were clothed in white robes, girt about 
with golden girdles. 

" No one is permitted to scale the glorious heights but after 
discipline of sorrow. The key of knowledge is in spirit- 
hands, and none may wrest it to himself but the earnest soul 
which is disciplined by trial. Bear that in mind. 

" Ease and luxury are the pleasant paths in which the soul 
lingers and dreams away the summer da} 7 . Self-denial, self- 
sacrifice, self-discipline are the upward tracks, thorn- vexed 
and rocky, which lead to the heights of knowledge and power. 
Study the life of Jesus, and be wise. 

'■' Moreover, the present is a time of hard and bitter conflict 
between us and our foes. We have told you that you feel 
the reflex of that struggle. It accompanies every great 
development of Divine Truth. It is, as it were, the darkness 
that precedes the dawn : the gloom which is the pre-requisite 
for growth : the period of trial wherein the earnest soul is 
purified. 4 Your hour and the power of darkness,' said 
Jesus, as he agonized in Gethsemane. It is so now ; and it 
will not pass lightly. The cup must be drained." 



238 IMMORTALITY. 

" In heaven, love joins all in softest bonds ; no element of 
discord is known or could be endured for an instant ; it 
would send a jar, painful in the extreme, through the whole of 
heaven. As, when a single nerve of the body is subjected to 
violence, the whole system responds with an exquisitely pain- 
ful sympathy, so in heaven, a single thought or emotion 
discordant to the general harmony of love would send a 
thrill of agony through every breast. Souls, then, must be 
trained to that state of harmonious response which will 
enable them to belong to the company of the brighter beings 
who form heaven ; and this is brought about by degrees 
through states of trial, whereby all the old, earthly, inhar- 
monious conditions are put off, and the soul gradually grows 
into the harmony of love, and by self-exertion constantly 
preserves that harmony in perfection, as man instinctively 
strives for health on earth. This effected, a soul is fitted to 
enter heaven, being no longer repugnant to its life ; and it 
enters, giving forth, as flowers their perfume, those exquisite 
auras, those soul-fragrances which are the outbreathings of a 
purified nature, which clothe it around with celestial glory 
and with god-like comeliness." 

"You should know how, and underwhat conditions, truth 
can be had from our higher world ; and how error, and 
deceit, and frivolity, and folly, may be warded off. Aspira- 
tion and prayer should precede the opening of the spiritual 
seance. Your aims and }*our purposes should not be idle 
curiosity, but the hope to obtain that spiritual food which 
perisheth not. All this, and much more, should man know, 
if he expects safely to meddle with our world. And when 
he has learned this, or while he is learning it, he must see 
too that on himself depends most or all of the success. Let 
him crush self, purify his inmost spirit, driving out impu- 
rity as a plague, and elevating his aims to their, highest 
possible ; let him love Truth as his Deity, to which all else 
shall bow ; let him follow it as his sole aim, careless whither 
the quest may lead him, and round him shall circle the Mes- 



CEYSTAL DEOPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 239 

sengers of the Most High., and in his inmost soul he shall see 

light." ... . 

" In our world of spirits are cities, villas, forests, fields, 
fountains, gardens with gardeners, orchestras with stringed 
instruments, theaters with actors and actresses, houses with 
inhabitants, and sporting grounds with their patrons. Our 
spirit world, with its spheres and societies, enzones your 
world. In our midst and your midst, unseen to you, are 
millions of spirits who have never left the earth. Multi- 
tudes of them are your daily guests ; they live with you, they 
have their dwellings with you, their attractions are with you. 
As yet your earth world is their spirit world. They are pre- 
pared for nothing higher." 

" I am a messenger spirit. I can make myself positive to 
nearly all conditions of spirit life. I report what I see. The 
highwayman, who on earth delighted in deeds of daring and 
robbery, here follows his favorite pursuits, and re-enjoys all 
the pleasures attendant upon such a life on earth. In this 
society are all thieves. The debauchee is there, and, in a 
bacchanalian society, imaginarily satisfies his appetites, and 
feels all those exhilarating thrills — and relapses — that were 
his lot on .earth. This society is the most beastly in this 
circle, for in it are committed all species of crime, and are 
exhibited all conditions of debasement. The bacchanalian 
song echoes and re-echoes through their ranks, until the vault 
of this portion of the hells rings with one unceasing, discord- 
ant shout. Oh, it is an awful spectacle to behold human 
souls writhing in the agonies that> dwell in this society of the 
first circle ! — but we are cheered by the glorious knowledge 
that reformatory influences will operate upon its members, and 
in time be reached by the redemptive powers of love and 
wisdom." .... 

" ' And what,' I asked, 4 is to be the future destiny of these 
sluggish spirits ? ' 



240 IMMORTALITY. 

" ' Eternity,' she said, 'and eternal love will work in them 
eternal progress. But that progress, like their natures, will 
be slow ; and though their cup of pleasure may always be 
full, yet it will always be small.' 

" Away to the left of these I then discovered what appeared 
like a livery stable, and near by it a race-course. I asked 
what this meant. She said, ' It is a society of those who love 
fast horses, who in the earth-life would be called jockeys.' 
4 Are they a society of much repute among other circles of the 
spirit realms ? ' I asked. ' Not much,' she said. ' They have 
a love peculiar to themselves, and a dialect peculiar, and not 
much sympathy or correspondence with those of other tastes.' " 

" Here I was permitted to see a phase of social life in 
heaven. The people or spirits of one of the mountains met 
together, of all ages and sexes, in a small grove on the side 
of the mountain for social exercise and enjoyment, the chief 
entertainment being, on this occasion, the singing of pastoral 
songs. We could distinctly hear the sweet tones as they 
came floating across the lake, which thrilled my soul with 
very pleasure. 

" At this moment two beautiful spirits passed by us in 
haste, as if on some special message. I asked my guide what 
these meant. 

" She beckoned with her hand as if to some one at a dis- 
tance. Immediately a bright spirit approached, having a 
countenance full of intelligence and benignity,, and greeted 
us in the most friendly manner. Then said my companion, 
8 Can you tell us, brother, on what errand those sisters are 
speeding to-day ? ' 

" i Yes,' he said, ' they have a sister ill, in the flesh, and 
they are sent to watch by her bed-side, to-night.' 

" ' Do the spirits, then,' I asked, ; really visit or revisit earth 
and minister to their friends in the flesh ? ' 

" 8 Yes,' answered the brother. ' Do not the Scriptures 
teach us that all the angels are ministering spirits, sent forth 
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? Did 



CEYSTAL DEOPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 241 

not the angels have charge over Christ in the earth-life? 
And were not Moses and Elias seen talking with him? 
Man's spiritual vision is necessarily dim. His mind, clogged 
by the grossness of the material body, is full of misapprehen- 
sions of angel ministry. ' " 

" Here we live amid a state of things which is an enlarge- 
ment of your life. But how can we describe to you an enlarge- 
ment of that which you do not already understand ? How 
explain the growth of a small tree into a large tree to a per- 
son who has never been capable of grasping the fact of a 
tree ? Yet that is what spirits try to do who give descriptions 
of this life to earth-dwellers. Man's own actions lead him 
into the pastures upon which his mind feeds, and in a higher 
state you will move of yourself among these higher spheres, 
instead of straining for broken words and misinterpreted sen- 
tences from another world. 

" You must not misunderstand me, and suppose that I 
mean spiritual truths should not be impressed upon the mind 
of man whenever God opens the gates for us. That is com- 
munication of a different order. He permits a flood of light 
to break upon the world sometimes when the life of man is 
sinking too utterly. A few gleams are reaching you now, 
you earth-dwellers ; and 'God .forbid that I, one of the workers, 
should disparage any of that which we have power to impart. 
No. What I say is, Use your opportunities wisely. I see 
that our languages have a common vocabulary for certain 
forms of spiritual life — those of which you are cognizant 
while still in the body. Of these we can speak, and can thus 
help you that look up. Those that look not up it is permitted 
to rouse b}^ a coarser mode of demonstration." 

" You are accustomed to suppose that in order to make a 
good appearance in the physical world your dwelling or habi- 
tation, or surroundings, must be of such and such an order. 
Now in spiritual life this is the same, but it chances to be a 
fact that the abode of the spirit, as well as the garments that 
16 



242 IMMORTALITY. 

it wears, and the various surroundings that it possesses, are 
the result of far different kinds of labor than those employed 
on earth to attain them, and that you cannot do it by any 
recognized system of fraud upon your neighbor, or by any 
of the usual terms called speculation and business and train- 
ing ; but that the entire property of the spirit is the result of 
his or her sterling mental and moral qualities ; that your spir- 
itual body in substance must be able to attract to itself parti- 
cles of beauty by the amount and intensity of the beauty and 
light that is within ; that you cannot cover up the inner dark- 
ness with a robe of splendor, nor shelter the imperfect soul in 
an abode and palace of luxury ; that the pauper who is honest 
in purpose, and strives to do his best, inherits a home, while 
the prince who has lavished no gifts save those robbed from 
the poor and the fatherless, is a beggar in spirit life. And so 
inevitably the law is this : that upon entering spiritual exist- 
ence you find yourself in precisely the condition and sur- 
roundings that 3'our mental and moral status call you to, and 
you find that you have builcled your spiritual habitation, and 
clothed your spiritual body, either with a raiment of good 
thoughts and deeds, or with shadowy garments of unkinclness 
and corruption. 

" This is not merely a sentiment, or a flower of speech or of 
rhetoric, but so palpable is it that it belongs to the world of 
legitimate cause and effect — that the soul attracts those 
atoms that beautify and adorn it in exact proportion as it is 
beautiful, and can so attract them. The lily, which has 
within itself the germ of the flower, absorbs from sun and 
from air the properties that clothe it in whiteness ; and the 
spirit of thought and action and volition draws to itself either 
the shadowy vapors of uncertainty and profligate life, or the 
beautiful white atoms that glisten in the sunlight of purity 
and truth. Between these two stand all souls in their spirit- 
ual state, whether they be embodied or disembodied ; and 
hence, to the spiritual vision and in the spiritual world, there 
is no such thing as the possibility of concealing the real state 
or condition of mind one from the other. 



CRYSTAL DEOPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 243 

" The mask that is worn upon earth is often successful, but 
even here a clear-sighted and intuitive observer may see the 
lines of character, or may perceive that vice has made its 
inroads even upon the fairest physical form ; while the spirit- 
ual body, which is composed of atoms which respond much 
more readily to the individual, is an exact expression of what 
the individual life has been within. Yet, were this all, there 
is no harshness of judgment there. It is pitiable enough to 
be deformed upon earth physically, and no one sees such an 
object without saying, ' Poor thing ! ' So in spirit, when the 
deformed and perverted soul lays off the garments of earthly 
splendor that may have been a mask, it is enough that the 
pitying angels say, 4 Poor soul, for behold the consciousness of 
deformity is its own punishment.' " 

" All persons are more or less en rapport with the spirit 
world; and their spirit friends know more of the thoughts 
that are directed against them than they do themselves. For 
instance, if any one thinks ill of you, it immediately causes a 
ray of light to pass from them to you, and your spirit friends 
can tell by the color of that ray whether the thought is evil 
or good. This light is not visible to all spirits. It depends 
on their state of development. All spirits above the earth- 
plane can thus see the thoughts of persons below them, 
whether in the body or out of the body. They are not 
affected by the condition of the atmosphere like an electric 
current, nor is there any necessity for wires as a means of 
conveyiug the thought. All thoughts are thus conveyed by 
a ray of light when persons think of one another. This is 
only in accordance with the law we have mentioned, whereby 
spirits are able to interpret the thoughts of those who are in a 
lower plane of spiritual development than they themselves. If 
spirits on their own level, embodied or disembodied, think of 
them, they are aware of it ; but thoughts not directed toward 
themselves they cannot, in that case, interpret, excepting there 
be a strong tie of sympathy between them and the thinker. A 
person in the body may, of course, be spiritually on a higher 



244 DO10RTATJTY. 

plane than many disembodied spirits ; in which case the latter 
are unable to read his thoughts, or enjoy his society, though 
they would, nevertheless, be able to overhear his conversation 
and spoken words. Hence, if you wish to avoid evil asso- 
ciates from the spirit world, you see how important it is to 
make spiritual progress, and thereby attract higher spirit 
friends. Thus, as already explained, if a man enters the 
spirit world, he is at once aware what people think of Mm, 
though he is not aware w T hat those same people are thinking 
of others, and, consequently, he cannot find any consolation 
in the reflection that there are other people who are as ill- 
thought of as himself. Every one he meets thinks badly of 
him, because they know him to be a bad man by his personal 
appearance. His spiritual body and garments pronounce his 
true character, and they think of, know him accordingly." 

" An important peculiarity in the relative powers of the 
higher and lower spirits, which we have already alluded 
to, is that the higher spirits are not visible to those below 
them ; whilst the former have the power to see all the spirits 
on the earth-plane. The latter, therefore, are ignorant of the 
others' presence, unless it is desired to make them aware of 
the fact. Hence, at seances, it often happens that spirits are 
present who are unknown to one another, and can only be 
aware of each other's presence by listening to the communi- 
cations given through your mediums. An earthly spirit is 
not aware how many higher spirits are present, and you are 
not aware how many earthly spirits are present, so that you 
see the latter have a similar advantage over you to what we 
have over them. People in the habit of communicating with 
earthly spirits through those mediums, with whom 'only spirits 
of this class are connected, wonder why they only receive 
messages from strangers, never from their own relations. If 
the latter are in the Summerland, or the third sphere, of 
course it is easily intelligible ; for we must explain to you 
that spirits from a higher sphere can only communicate with 
you through a medium who has readied the same degree ofdevel- 



CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 245 

opment as themselves. Thus, you see, that if you wish to com- 
municate with the higher spirits, you must first place yourself 
on a spiritual level with them, otherwise you will never get 
messages from any spirits above the earth-plane. Another 
great law of spirit communion is that the higher spirits can 
read the thoughts of the lower ones — each sphere, in fact, 
comprehending the one below it." 

" Do not labor under the delusion that the spiritual world 
is subject to the same physical laws as your own. This is a 
frequent mistake with those who come from the earth-plane 
into the spirit world. They think that it will be dark every 
twelve hours, and that they must provide against heat and 
cold. This is not the case. You think that because there is a 
spiritual counterpart to the matter on the earth, that therefore 
there is a spiritual counterpart to the gaseous products of the 
earth ; but this is not so, since the gaseous products of matter 
are themselves in the nature of spirit. Hence they are unable 
to possess a spiritual counterpart. We have, therefore, no 
fog, smoke, mist, clouds, or other gaseous matter or vapor. 
There is a spiritual counterpart to water, but not to rain, 
which is vapor, and therefore not coming under our category 
of matter; neither have we any counterpart of fire, which 
appertains only to your world. When you read of spirits see- 
ing flames, vapor, fog, &c, you may assume that it is entirely 
subjective, and denotes the inner condition of the seer. We do 
not perceive such appearances, because we belong to a higher 
sphere, and therefore we say they have no objective reality to 
us. If we wish to penetrate into the inner state of unhappy 
spirits, we can see, by sympathy, the appearances which they 
are cognizant of. We see your fires, it is true, just as you see 
them, so far as regards the materials they consume ; but the 
products of combustion have no existence in the spirit world, 
neither do we perceive any heat from the fire, or any cold 
from the frost. Frozen water appears the same to us as to 
you. Thus you see we lose a great many of the disagreeables 
as well as the agreeables of your life. People coming from 



246 IMMORTALITY. 

your side of life find the spiritual world at first very enjoy- 
able ; the change from darkness, fog, rain, and cold, being 
rather delightful. We speak here, of course, of those who, 
as before explained, see things as they are, and who are 
not morally hallucinated. They find themselves in the same 
locality they previously resided in, but all is changed as re- 
gards its climate. In their ej^es the sky is ever cloudless, the 
sun is alwa} T s shining, if not always visible — for, of course, it- 
disappears below the horizon ; the streets are free from fog, 
smoke, and rain; and they feel neither thirst nor hunger. 
They soon miss the variety which those changes of the atmos- 
phere afforded, and, perhaps, some would have preferred the 
old state of things.'' 

" There is a spiritual counterpart to all organized forms ; 
and a spirit, or a circle of spirits, can reproduce a materialized 
counterpart, that is, he can temporarily re-materialize the 
spiritual counterpart, by the aid of laws that you see in oper- 
ation, at what is called a materialization seance, such as have 
been frequently witnessed in the presence of mediums. The 
latter phenomena are simply the materialization of the spirit 
body of persons who formerly lived on your earth in the flesh, 
and are enabled to re-clothe themselves for the time being in 
matter borrowed from the mediums and the persons forming 
the circle. When, therefore, you see a spirit form clothed in 
white drapery, you may assume it is an exact materialized 
reproduction of the spirit matter composing the dress and body 
of the spirit who thus shows herself or himself. As, however, 
the matter they are clothed in is taken from the bodies of 
persons in the flesh, — principally from the medium, — it 
has, at first, a tendency to shape itself into forms resem- 
bling more or less the person of the medium. Hence, every 
spirit who thus re-clothes himself or herself through a new 
medium, bears a considerable resemblance to the latter — a 
circumstance which investigators naturally regard as exceed- 
ingly suspicious. It is, however, no more so than the resem- 
blance which one person bears to another, whose garments he 



CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 247 

may have borrowed. When the power becomes stronger, it 
is found that the resemblance to the medium diminishes." 

" Spirit communion is practised in our world the same as 
with you, only we obtain higher and more perfect mani- 
festations. Should a spirit, who knows nothing of spirit 
communion, see a messenger from a higher sphere, he is 
uuable to comprehend the meaning of it, fancies he has 
seen an angel, and becomes alarmed, or runs away with the 
idea that it is a ghost. This sounds very absurd to you, but 
nevertheless it is true. There is as much superstition and 
bigotry on the subjects of spiritualism and spirit-communion 
among spirits, as there is among those in the flesh ; nor is 
it to be wondered at when you consider with what prejudices 
people are sent out of your world into ours, and how little 
change they experience in their mode of life and surround- 
ings. The spirit world is so material to their senses, that 
they cannot realize the existence of spirit at all, still less that 
they themselves are spirits. 

" You are mistaken, therefore, in supposing that the higher 
and lower spirits are intermingled in your thoroughfares, in a 
manner to be equally visible to all. Those who are on the 
earth-plane see only earthly spirits ; those from a higher 
sphere see both classes. It is entirely dependent on the 
spiritual development of each man how much of the spirit 
world and its inhabitants he sees." 

" In a case of the foundering of a ship, when the passengers 
find themselves at the bottom of the ocean, they rise at once, 
as spirits, to the surface, by the force of their will-power, 
which involuntarily induces them to reach the surface again 
as the first thing to do. When there, and they find their 
ship is gone, they see their situation at a glance, and their 
thoughts naturally revert to their homes and friends, in 
which direction they are spontaneously drawn by the force 
of their affections, which is sufficient to attract the spirit-body 
thither. In the case, however, of a ship destroyed by fire, 
the persons who have just been drowned, and must therefore 



248 IMMORTALITY. 

now be called spirits, find themselves, along with the material 
bodies they lately inhabited, floating about in the water ; they 
see the ship, or rather its spiritual counterpart, intact, con- 
sequently — as it appears to their spiritual eyesight — the 
same vessel they just saw burnt down. Since the spiritual 
ship is equally material to their spiritual touch, they naturally 
conclude -that they have been washed overboard, and that 
the fire was merely a dream, or that it has been put out ; 
hence they wish themselves on board again. By force of this 
exercise of their wills they soon find themselves there. They 
then see no difference between things now and things as they 
were before, and may go on in the old course of life, for years, 
perhaps, never finding out that there has been any change in 
their condition. They cannot reach the shore, because the 
ship is unable to approach the land, owing to the strong mag- 
netic currents that sweep round the shores of the spiritual 
counterpart of your ocean, thus preventing all navigation. 
The reason they do not leave the vessel is, because their 
thoughts are centered on it in an unusual degree. Those who 
have made a long voyage, know the feeling of regret with 
which they leave the ship that has been their home for so 
many months ; and this is the same tie that keeps the spirit 
tied to the vessel in the case under discussion. The ship 
becomes impregnated with the magnetism of the passengers 
and crew, and they cannot release themselves, in the same 
way that people clinging to their old homes on land may do, 
because of their being so entirely isolated from the rest of 
mankind. They see other ships pass them which are nav- 
igated by men in the body ; but the latter being unable to see 
them — excepting in cases where some one among the pas- 
sengers is clairvoyant — take no notice of them and pass them 
by. It is possible, of course, that such a vessel might run 
them down; but this could not easily happen, simply because 
their will-power is sufficient to control the movements of 
their own vessel and keep them out of danger, and they are 
never asleep, because they experience no night. 

"It is quite true, as you say, that in the case of houses 



CRYSTAL DEOPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 249 

destroyed by fire, we told you that the inhabitants were 
released by the fire ; whereas, in the case of the ship, we now 
tell you that the reverse takes place." 

44 When the house is destroyed by fire, the spirit has no 
longer any tie to the old place, so he seeks another ; and in so 
doing he is compelled to come more in contact with his fellow- 
men, and he learns that there are other beings and other inter- 
ests in the world besides his own ; — in short, he is compelled 
to rouse himself. And hence it is that a great fire may be a 
great benefit to the spirit world, as it would relieve a number 
of unhappy men and women, who, in dwelling for years in 
one spiritual atmosphere, have been to all intents and pur- 
poses imprisoned. The removal and rebuilding of an old house 
may, of course, effect the same object, but not so completely 
as a fire does ; for the old materials are generally used up 
again elsewhere, and the spirit inhabitants are still attracted 
to them." 

" It is often the case that an intellectual man is not happy 
in the spirit world. We will tell you why : The pursuit of 
knowledge is an occupation; and, as we have previously 
assured you, as long as a person has an occupation, he may be 
more or less happy. If he studies the beauties of nature as 
an artist, or traveler, or man of science, he feels elevated and 
benefited, and may be tolerably happy for the time being. 
But in the spirit world, life is so long — being eternal — and 
the means of acquiring knowledge, including the increased 
facilities of locomotion, are so much greater, that a man soon 
exhausts all that there is for him to see. He then feels weary 
of perpetually going over the same ground again, and he finds 
that he cannot make any use of the knowledge he has 
acquired with such infinite pains, now that he has got it; 
hence it is not surprising that he becomes unhappy, and longs 
for fresh scenes and pastures new. This is the turning-point 
in his career. He may have been a very selfish man on earth, 
— and how many scientific men are not so ! In any case he 



250 IMMORTALITY. 

must find a means of imparting his knowledge to the world, 
or he gains nothing by his acquirements ; and if he did not 
seek knowledge for some object of gain to himself — whether 
ambition or wealth — he must seek it for the good of his fellow- 
men, which is simply supposing him to be possessed of the 
love of his kind, that, as already explained, would qualify him 
to rise higher. If his object has been a selfish one, which is 
also too frequently the case, he is unhappy because he cannot 
give his knowledge to the world, and get the credit for it. 
He tries, perhaps, as a spirit, to get an audience together to 
instruct them, but fails ; because spirits on the earth-plane do 
not care about acquiring knowledge at second hand. If they 
have any thirst for knowledge, they can all acquire it for 
themselves?*!or the thirst for knowledge implies a will to 
have it, and that gives them the power to get it. ' This being 
the case, the scientific men are disappointed of the honor they 
expected to derive from their discoveries, and they hunt out 
a medium, and try to impart it through him to your world ; 
but that outlet for their overcharged brains fails to satisfy 
their ambition likewise, since it is the medium who gets the 
credit of anything that is so given to your skeptical world. 
His medium need not be a professional, or even be conscious 
of possessing mediumship ; he may be simply an ordinary 
scientific man ; who is sufficiently impressionable to receive 
the thoughts which the spirit impresses on his brain, — in which 
case, of course, he takes all the credit of the discovery him- 
self, and, indeed, never finds out until he gets into the next 
world, that all the ideas which he thought were his own, sim- 
ply came through his mind as a channel for the communica- 
tion to the material world, of the ideas from another man, 
who perhaps lived his earth-life a few years before himself. 
Thus, }^ou see, a man may spend years in pursuing his favor- 
ite studies in the spirit world, and find after all that it is 
mere ' vanity and vexation of spirit.' 

" We will now trace the career of a man whose pursuits are 
of a more intellectual and less scientific turn. He has, per- 
haps, been devoting his lifetime to the study of metaphysical 



CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 251 

problems of no practical benefit to his fellow-men ; he merely 
engages in his studies as an intellectual amusement, perhaps 
from similar motives to those which actuated our scientific 
friend, or, perhaps, for the sake of giving to humanity a sys- 
tem of philosophy which will hand clown to posterity his name 
as a philosopher and learned scholar. Many men have thus 
devoted a lifetime to metaphysical hairsplitting, under the 
delusion that they were conferring a benefit on mankind, 
which, however, they find out, when it is to late, proves to be 
little more than a delusion and a snare. We would not have 
you neglect your intellectual training, but we would have you 
understand that, although it may afford you plenty of occupa- 
tion and pleasure, it cannot give you the happiness which 
springs from a consciousness of having done some good in the 
world. Remember, therefore, that intellectual acquirements 
will not aid a man in his spiritual progress ; for a man who 
has none of the love of his fellow-men in his heart — be his 
intellect what it may — cannot rise so rapidly in the spirit 
world as he who, having less intellect, has more of the love 
element in his composition. This explains how it is that a 
man may be very intellectual, and yet not make much prog- 
ress in the spirit world." 

"A man should not only be negatively, but he should be 
positively, good. He should go out of his way to do good. 
His great life-motive should be to help others ; and he should 
sympathize with and assist those occupying the lowest con- 
ditions on the earth-plane. There are more good men among 
the poor than among the rich. The adage, ' Every man for 
himself,' is selfish, and immoral in tendency. 'Do all for 
others,' expressed in different ways, is a precept old as 
Epictetus, old as the moral lessons of Jesus, old as the nega- 
tively expressed Golden Rule of Confucius, old as the more 
highly inspired poets of antiquity. Persons to be happy in 
any sphere of existence, should live lives of self-denial. By 
self-denial we mean, the sharing of our enjoyments with 
theirs, the suppression of self in an overshadowing remem- 
brance of and love for others." 



252 IMMORTALITY. 

" Many persons-think it is not permissible to pray, but this 
we consider a popular delusion amongst those on earth. We 
in spirit life pray for help whenever we want it, let the object 
be what it may ; but not if it is an evil object. In the latter 
case, prayer certainly is undesirable, for it is the cause of 
attracting to }'ou spirits who will aid you in accomplishing 
your purpose, perhaps, but they will only increase your 
unhappiness afterwards ; for if you have strong will-power 
you are tempting them. On the other hand, if you pray for 
a good object, you benefit the spirits whom you draw around 
you. It is good for them to help others ; and in helping you, 
they help themselves. Thus, you see, prayer is a spiritual 
force which you can put in operation if you have will-power 
enough. 

"It is not necessary for a man to pray before he can be 
helped, but it is advisable ; because, although his spirit friends 
can read his thoughts and understand his wants, he loses the 
aid of many others who cannot read his thoughts, but who 
would be attracted to him by his prayers, and would help him 
if they knew he wanted help. If, however, he never prays, 
they do not know of his needs, and they do not help him. 
Prayer is therefore not merely aspiration, it is something like 
advertising your wants. All spirits do not see them, it is true ; 
but those who can help you are made aware of your needs, 
and are able to assist you. You should, of course, pray to 
God, rather than to spirits directly. He permits spirits to 
execute his decrees. You may not know that this is the case, 
because you do not see God ; but we all live under His laws, 
and nothing can happen contrary to His laws ; consequently, 
whatever is done must be done by the Divine sanction, and 
to Him your prayers should be addressed. We do not . say 
they would be unanswered if addressed to spirits. You can 
address your prayers to spirits if you like, but it comes to the 
same thing. You call on the spirit of God — which dwells in 
th-eir souls as in yours — to help you, and that spirit re- 
sponds to your call. There is therefore no disgrace in asking 
help from spirits. We do not pray to spirits, but to God. 
.... Men with the strongest wills will be able to do the 



CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 253 

most good or evil in the world, because they have the most 
influence with their fellow-men, which is only another name 
for prayer — the exercise of an influence over others. It does 
not follow because you are on the earth that you cannot exer- 
cise an influence over spirits above your own sphere. That 
is a mistake ; you can exercise your power wherever it is 
wanted — that is to say, if the object requires the interference 
of the highest spirits, you may get it. We do not say you 
will get it, for, of course, you might pray for impossible things, 
and we do not say you will always get what }^ou want in the 
time that } r ou wish it. You might wish for the immediate 
conversion of the whole of the spirit world; but this prayer 
could not be granted without the aid of the Almighty, and 
therefore you would have to be subject to laws that would 
necessitate your waiting His time. 

"By longing, we do not mean praying — that is another 
matter. Prayer is a more active form of longing ; and what 
we say is, that if you pray — that is, if you ask for what you 
want — (not necessarily aloud), you have a better chance of 
getting it than by keeping your longings to yourself, and 
never expressing them in the form of words. This expression 
of a longing, in the form of words, addressed to some friend — 
your Almighty Father it should be — is what we understand 
by prayer. You think that a man like Napoleon I. is not 
likely ever to have prayed in his life for help to aid him in 
carrying out his plans. We happen to know for a fact that 
he did, and that is just wiry he got such an immense number 
of adherents around him from the spirit world. He prayed 
constantly, not perhaps aloud. He may not even have 
intended to pray ; but the mere mental utterance of a desire 
that he might succeed is, to all intents and purposes, a 
prayer. 

" We have told you of the power of prayer. Now, let us 
turn to the power of love. The one is the counterpart of the 
other. Prayer asks, and love grants. If you pray for that 
which you need, the measure of the love which 3*011 are 
entitled to at the hands of Him you pray to, is evidenced by 
the response you get to your prayer, be the response favorable 



254 DIMOETALITY. 

or otherwise. If you pray to a human being, the same law 
applies. If he loves you much, he will respond readily; if 
not, he refuses. Thus you see that the law is very simple in 
its application ; and in proportion as you merit a reward, so 
will that reward be meted out to you. You see this law in 
operation in every phase of life, both in the spiritual and the 
material worlds. With you its application is of daily occur- 
rence. You refuse the request of your child, not because 
you don't love it, but because you do. As spirits, we believe 
in the potency and efficacy of prayer. We know that we 
grow to be like what we aspire to. We delight to pour out 
our gratitude to the great All-Father, and to pray for assist- 
ance from holy ministering angels. Matter is moved by spirit. 
Hence if you hear of matter in the form of clothes, money, 1 
and food, being sent to a man in answer to his prayers, as you 
do in the case of George Miiller's Orphanage, at Bristol, 
where you have one man providing by his will-power, or 
prayers, for the wants of two thousand orphan children, you 
have a case simply of matter controlled by spirits, in the same 
sense that you have it when you move the chair. The modus 
operandi we know to be as follows, for we have watched it : the 
person praying, simply calls to his aid spirits — that is, men 
and women — who sympathize with his work ; in short, he 
may be said to advertise for them. The difference between 
him and others, who solicit your charitable contributions, is 
that he advertises in the spiritual world. We have called it 
advertising, simply to convey an idea to your mind that you 
can comprehend, but in reality it is nothing of the kind : it 
is an earnest appeal by spirit power to those whose necessities 
require that they should lend help of this kind. Hence 
you see it is a mutual benefit. ' It is more blessed to give 
than to receive.' " 

" The spirit world, rather than the ph} T sical world, is the 
sphere of causes. Its baptismal influences are continually 
being poured upon mortals. All great orators are inspired ; 
all poets are impressed ; the greatest artists often paint wiser 
than they know. Many of the best mediums on earth do not 






CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 255 

know they are mediums. Many claim thoughts and ideas as 
their own that were simply transmitted to their sensitive 
brain. If a man can sit down and write off by the hour with- 
out knowing what is coming next, he must be simply an im- 
pressional medium, let him call himself what he will. If he 
has to originate the thoughts himself, and form them into 
words and sentences before he can put them down, he will 
find that it is a much slower process than he has been accus- 
tomed to. Should he doubt what we have said, let him beg 
the question for a moment, grant the existence of the sup- 
posed spirit, and ask the latter to give him a test of what we 
are saying by withdrawing the thoughts from h'is mind. 
Should he find, after making such a request, that he is no 
longer able to proceed during a short interval, he maybe sure 
that he is what is called, in spiritualist parlance, an impres- 
sional medium. We hope he will not consider it derogatory 
to his dignity to come under such a category ; for, as a matter 
of fact, all the most brilliant geniuses of any age have been 
such. They could not have originated the ideas which are 
conveyed by the works of men like Shakespeare, Spenser, 
Milton, Dante, Plato, Aristotle, and others, unless the writers 
or speakers had been inspired by men from the spirit world. 
This is the secret of all inspiration. We see it at work in 
every-day life just the same. From the spirit side — seen be- 
hind the scenes, as it were — the process is so simple and 
commonplace that he who runs may read ; but with you it is 
of course scouted as one of the delusions of those weak- 
minded creatures, the Spiritualists. The spirit world is toler- 
ant of your eccentricities. We know your weak points — we 
humor them — and work away in spite of it all. We have 
much to tell you for your own good : it makes us happy to 
impart knowledge ; hence we seek out, like the scientific men 
we have told you of, an impressional mind amongst you, and 
pour into his brain the thoughts which we are full of. He 
takes all the credit of their utterance in your world ; but as 
it is only temporarily, we do not mind it. When he comes 
into the spirit world he finds his mistake out, and is obliged 



256 BlMOBTALITY. 

to admit that he is not such a genius as he thought he was. 
Then he has to take his proper place in the world of thought, 
and perhaps he may be dissatisfied. If so, he of course be- 
comes unhappy ; and until his pride of intellect is subdued, 
he cannot rise. 

" There are many men in the spirit world who, with you, 
were considered great geniuses, but who are now robbed of 
all the splendor which was not theirs. If they ever succeed 
in communicating through mediums with those on the earth- 
plane, }~ou wonder at the trivial nature of their sentiments, 
and think, of course, that the medium is an impostor, because 
it is clear that Burns or Shakespeare could never have written 
such stuff as that. Alas ! how are the mighty fallen. When 
the spirit world reveals to them how little they really were, 
and how useless have been their attempts at self-glorification, 
they begin to be wiser and sadder men." 

" Paris, in a state of revolution, might convey some idea of 
the spirit life in your great cities. Of course, for some men 
the life they there lead may have attractions that seem at first 
glance superior to the life they led on earth. Paupers and 
criminals have everything to gain by the change from one 
world to the other. They have nothing to lose, and they 
leave nothing behind to regret ; on the contrary, it would be 
a happy release for most of them to be free from the necessity 
of supplying the needs of the body had they not to supply the 
needs of the spirit instead. Most of them have never given a 
thought to their spiritual welfare whilst on earth, and, as a 
consequence, they have to begin at the bottom of the ladder. 
In regard to material pleasures, such as appertain to the mate- 
rial body, they are much better off ; but in regard to spiritual 
possessions they are paupers indeed. Their great object, 
therefore, is to associate themselves with persons in the flesh, 
and enjoy over again, by sympathy, the pleasures appertaining 
to the material body without its penalties. Having lost their 
own material bodies, they use the bodies of others still in the 
flesh, and incite the latter to all kinds of drunkenness and 






CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 257 

excess, so that they maj^ gratify their own base desires. In. 
your life the principal aim is to supply the wants of the phys- 
ical body, which helps to build up the spirit body within.. 
In our world the principal object should be to develop the' 
soul that dwells in the spirit body ; for the latter is not the 
spiritual man, any more than your body is such." 

" Capital punishment is the poorest use that a government 
or a state can. make of the criminal. The forced death only 
gives the individual a wider influence to do evil if so disposed. 
It is better to- reform men in the earthly life than to thrust 
them from the gallows into our life ; and the most sensible 
way for you to prevent falsehoods from lying spirits is to stop 
sending into our country so many deceivers and egregious 
falsifiers. Your systems of traffic and trade, of deception and 
hypocrisy, under the name of respectability, have so steeped 
them in selfish schemes and wrong acting, that it is exceed- 
ingly difficult for us to at once give their thoughts and acts 
an upward tendency." 

" There are no salamanders, sylphs, gnomes, kobolds, ele- 
mentaries, and headless goblins, in the spirit world — or, at 
least, in our descensions into and explorations of the lower 
spheres we have never seen any. We are inclined to think 
that these are distorted images, inverted psychological presen- 
tations, originating in imaginative and unbalanced minds. 
There may be persons in the magical lands of the East, and 
some few in the West, who have the power to and do command 
spirits by the exercise of their wills ; but the spirits, thus com- 
manded are mere satraps — the misguided slaves of positive 
minds, who seek in such commands the carrying out of selfish 
sordid aims. Angels invite gentle, ministeriDg spirits' love; 
but autocratic demons, whether clothed in or disenthralled of 
material vestures, command ! How unlike Jesus, who said : 
4 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest.' " 

17 



258 IMMORTALITY. 

" As spirits we are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, but 
have our limitations, something as do mortal men and women. 
We can pass through doors into 3^our buildings without their 
being open for us ; we can pass through what you term solid 
walls after accumulated magnetic auras have been removed ; 
we can, after a time, if so desiring and willing, pass through 
glass. And yet spirits just having entered into our sphere of 
existence probably could not ; hence there is wisdom of rais- 
ing the windows in the chambers of the dying. The bodies 
of your dead should not be put upon and enveloped in ice, 
especially while a portion of the vital emanations have not 
yet been withdrawn preliminary to their assimilation with the 
spiritual body." 

It may have been noticed by you in earthly bodies that 
the dying do not weep; and let us press upon you not to 
weep and lament aloud over and around the dying. It im- 
pedes the action of those processes necessary to the tranquil 
separation of the spirit from the body. There should be 
calmness and trust, and softest strains of music around the 
pillow of the dying. What you call death we call birth — 
the new birth — a second birth on to our shining shores of 
immortality. 

Ancient spirits," when descending or approaching your 
earth, generally prefer not to give their names ; they also dis- 
like to have their earthly experiences referred to, for they live 
more in the present, and the unfolding future, than in the 
past. They prefer to be reticent. They love deeds rather 
than words. Whether ancient or modern, spirits differ in the 
power of vision much as do mortals, the more exalted having 
the deeper powers of penetration. 

Mrs. Lutie Blair Mlrdock, a gifted spirit-artist of Rock- 
bottom, Mass., said, under the influence of her entrancing 
teachers, that the spirit world was no far-away phantom 
land, but around and about mortals as is the atmosphere they 



CEYSTAL DEOPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 259 

breathe. The lives of animals, insects, plants, flowers, are all 
in a sense immortal. Nothing is lost into annihilation. Spirits 
have animals of the higher orders so long as they desire them. 
But as spirits progress they get beyond them, animals them- 
selves never getting beyond the sphere nearest the earth. 
Such insects as are found in spirit life are harmless. . . . 

Disease originates in obstructions and the false relations of 
the physical body. The mind and the imagination both affect 
the conditions of the body, and often nervous diseases are 
produced and intensified by the malice and misdirected mag- 
netisms of evil spirits. . . . Spirit vision is not infinite ; and 
yet we can go, if we wish, into the realms of exalted spirits 
and see them ; but like ignorant persons in cultured and re- 
fined society, we should be ill at ease, neither perceiving their 
thoughts nor understanding their language ; and hence we 
should soon drift back to our appropriate planes. . . . When 
we pluck spirit flowers they do not facie. Remember that 
every earthly flower has a spiritual counterpart. But when 
the bud is removed from the parent stem on earth, the spirit 
leaves, and the bud or flower decays ; while the flower in 
spirit life is composed wholly of spirit substances, and sur- 
rounded by a spirit atmosphere palpitating with spirit life, 
and therefore fadeless. Plucked spirit flowers bear some re- 
semblance in permanency to wax flowers. . . . Spirits not 
being obliged to toil for the supply of physical wants, and 
being relieved from the temptations and annoyances of mortal 
life, do not absolutely retrograde. The holy angels help all 
who desire it, finding their highest joy in doing good. Cow- 
per says : 

" Their lives and works 
A soul in all things, and that soul is God." 

Heney Kiddle, A.M., and ex-superintendent of the public 
schools in the city of New York, has in his family two excel- 
lent writing mediums, a married daughter and a son, whom I 
should judge to be about fourteen years of age. 

Upon asking their controlling intelligences certain ques- 
tions relating to the states and employments of those in the 



260 IMMORTALITY. 

spirit world, I received very satisfactory answers ; and prin- 
cipally from the spirit Mary A. Kiddle, who passed to the 
higher life of immortality when a child. I subjoin these 
among others equally interesting. 

u Q ur pobgs are the products of our lives — sadly, badly 
woven sometimes ; at other times their beauties are only of 
heavenly growth, and for our celestial homes. ... In traveling 
our will is our guide, governed by the strength we possess — 
that is, by our spiritual strength. This will is holy, and gov- 
erned only by a holy desire, and takes on an intensity of 
power in proportion to the fitness of the spirit to receive it. 
We need no vehicles, since the Lord has given us almost un- 
limited motion." 

Is your spirit-home within or beyond the atmosphere of 
this earth? 

" Our home is not connected with yours in any way except 
by the ties of tenderness and affection. The two atmospheres 
are in one sense distinct ; but we can ever come into yours in 
an instant, when our spirit desires to do so. We have no 
drawbacks. Love, our highest thought, takes us here, or 
brings us there, in the name of God. But each and every 
sphere in itself is separate, though our transition is easy from 
one to the other. It must be remembered that what you call 
space has but little to do with us, and that a state of purity 
constitutes heaven." ' 

Does Jesus Christ hold any especial relation to this world ? 

" He has a never-tiring, never-absent care and anxiety for 
each and every moral being on earth, and will never be at 
perfect rest until all are brought into harmony with Him 
and with the will of the divine Father. . . . 

" All lives, even insects, are precious in the sight of God, 
and they have their uses. Think of the butterfly. Does it 
not show you beauties to aspire to ? Just in the same way 
does it bring to the spirits the conception of and the desire 
for higher joys. Every living tiring brings back again to your 
spirit existence the essential nature of its life as it was in the 
atmosphere which surrounded you in your earthly conditions 
and aspirations." . . . 



CRYSTAL DROPS. — FACTS AND FANCIES. 261 

Robert Dale Owen, controlling the hand, said : " Spirit 
life is far more real and satisfactory than was life in the body. 
All have much to learn when entering this state of existence. 
... I have a spirit library ; it contains the essential thoughts 
of the best authors ; but I find it difficult to explain these 
things to a mortal. . . . 

" When on earth, especially in my later years, I held Jesus 
Christ as highest with the highest ; but now I hold him high 
in harmony with the Highest. . . . All is working toward good 
in the end, and leading to the righteous will of the Father. 
The seeming delay is occasioned by the stubbornness of a 
generation following their own perverted wills, and not tend- 
ing toward right and justice, and that sympathy that should 
flow like a river. Final peace will come, and all will be one 
body in Christ, and Christ in God." 



262 IMMORTALITY. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE TWO THEORIES CONCERNING THE BEGINNINGS OF 
THINGS — MATTER AND SPIRIT. 

"I wonder if this is the way 
We wake from Death's short sleep, to-struggle through 
A brief bewilderment, and, in dismay, 
Behold our life unto our old life true." The Indeeekdent. 

The pine differs no more from the palm than does the 
Western from the Oriental mind. The one, materialistic in 
tendency, postulates everything in matter — builds upon it 
— sees in it the potencies and possibilities of all things, and 
believes the immortal soul, with its attributes of will, affec- 
tion, and spiritual aspiration, to have been evolved out of 
matter, the principal attribute of which is inertia. 

The Western mind, considered more scientific, more induc- 
tive, reasons from the circumference toward the center by 
analysis. It observes and studies the shells of things ; it 
sneers at metaphysics while using metaphysics to define, and 
seeks to build philosophies from surface facts and effects 
rather than from axiomatic truths deducible from conscious- 
ness, intuition, and the immutable principles of the universe. 

The Oriental mind, and to my conception the more philo- 
sophical of the two, commencing with consciousness, reasons 
from the center toward the circumference by the synthetic 
process. It starts out from the ego. It reflects upon causes. It 
studies the soul of things. Probing beneath the diversity of 
visible forms, it can only rest in the Unity and Causation which 
are before all, in all, and embracing all. It relies more upon 
the facts of consciousness than upon inferences drawn from 
the observation of material phenomena. Professor Eccles says 
that " Our only assurance of the existence of anything out- 



MATTER AND SPIPuIT. 263 

side of ourselves is the effect produced on consciousness. If 
the perceiving consciousness is not real, how can we assert 
that the perceived matter is ? Action and reaction are equal 
and opposite. If consciousness has not persistence and per- 
manence of its own, how can it gauge persistence and perma- 
nence in matter and energ3^ ? But for consciousness we could 
know of the existence of nothing else. Is it logical to 
claim that our conclusions are permanent and real, while 
asserting that our premises are unsubstantial and unreal ? " 

The Oriental mind, considering substance as atomic, en- 
ergy as rhythmic, and consciousness as individualized and 
eternal, and given to pure thinking, arrived, several thousand 
years ago, to similar conclusions, to which the latest results 
of scientific research are vaguely hinting, namely, that mate- 
rial nature and material phenomena rest on a basis of spiritual 
unity — that ail things proceed from and depend upon one 
Central Fountain of Absolute Intelligence. In proof of this 
see the late published conclusions of William Crooks, Max- 
well, and Lockyer. And yet physicists, and, I regret to say, 
some few spiritualists not abreast of the age, conclude that 
intelligence results from organization — that life originates 
from dead matter, and that conscious, thinking souls are 
evolved from unthinking atoms, and their molecular combi- 
nations. 

The point from whence the scientist starts is a nebulous 
chaos, and from this basis he strives to trace the unfolding 
order of creation in its ascent toward spirit, by processes of 
evolution. He assumes that thought, intelligence — ay, God 
Himself, was evolved out of this nebulous ocean of material 
fire-mist. 

The converse order postulates spirit, that is to say, Abso- 
lute Intelligence, as the center and emerging starting-point 
of all sensuous phenomena 

At the point where the physicist commences his observa- 
tions — the chaos — half the riddle has been solved, half 
the work of creation has been completed. Evolution is the 
correlate of Involution, and failing to see the principle of 



264 IMMORTALITY. 

involution, he is only prepared to note the emergence of 
order as it is displayed in the visible creation. He has dealt 
with but one half of the circle. 

The method of creation is dual ; it proceeds from centers 
to circumferences by involution, and from circumferences to 
centers by evolution. The question of the hour is, which has 
priority in the actual procedure, spirit or matter — active 
intelligence or passive matter ? 

It is hardly necessary to state that the ultimate atom of the 
chemist has never been seen ; its very existence is hypotheti- 
cal — it is the unknowable ! We form some notion of it 
from its behavior, and by experimenting with its transient 
manifestations. 

It must seem clear to the solid thinker that the material 
plane, the outlying chaos embraced by primitive matter, is 
not the primal cause of order, not the original center from 
which the complex kingdoms of life are distributed ; but this 
material chaos — this protoplasmic substance — was the con- 
tinent, the ground-work, the passive recipient, in which were 
sown all types, all architypal germs, through the medium of 
which the Divine Spirit gave to matter shape, weaving from 
material essences the vestures with which to clothe the souls 
of men and of worlds in objective vehicles. 

It is no more logically impossible for an effect to exceed its 
cause, for a stream to rise above its fountain, than for quadru- 
manous animals to produce men, bodies to produce souls, and 
protoplasmic substances — alias dead matter — to produce the 
organic kingdoms of life, without an intelligent life-principle, 
— the all-directing mind of God. 

I honor star-eyed science ; I sit reverently at the feet of 
such Gamaliels as Agassiz, Dana, Dawson, Virchow, Cuvier, 
Owen, Zollner, Quatrefages, Professor Wyville Thomson, and 
others, constituting a galaxy of glorious minds, who see in 
matter the footprints of a Divine Wisdom, and read the 
soul's immortality in the visible images of creation. But 
from the conclusions of pseudo-scientists, who, ignoring God, 
see in matter and molecular forces the origin of motion, sensa- 



MATTER AND SPIRIT. 265 

tion, intelligence, all that is — and all returning to matter, 
and consequently chaos, again, — from these I utterly dissent. 
Here follow some of their teachings : 

" In itself it is of little moment whether we express the phenomena of matter in 
terms of spirit, or the phenomena of spirit in terms of matter; matter may be 
regarded as a form of thought; thought maybe regarded as a property of matter," 
<£c. — Huxley. 

"All the natural bodies with which we are acquainted are equally living. . . . When 
a stone which is thrown into the air falls again to the earth according to definite laws ; 
when a crystal is formed from a saline fluid ; when sulphur and mercury unite to form 
cinnabar; — these facts are neither more nor less mechanical life-phenomena than the 
growth and flowering of plants, than the propagation and sensory faculties of animals, 
or the perceptions and intelligence of man." — Haeckel. 

" These modes of the unknowable, which we call motion, heat, light, chemical 
affinity, &c, are alike transformable into each other, and into those modes of the 
unknowable which we distinguish as sensation, motion, and thought. . . . How this 
metamorphosis takes place — how a force existing as motion, heat, or light can become 
a mode of consciousness, it is impossible to fathom." — Spencer. 

"Just as the liver secretes bile and the kidneys mind, so the brain secretes 
thought." — Carl Vogf. 

" "Without phosphorus there is" no-th ought/' — Moleschott. 

"The same force which digests by the stomach thinks by the brain." — Friederich. 

" Galvanism is the principle of life. ... A galvanic pile pounded into atoms must 
become alive. In this manner nature brings forth organic bodies." — Ohen. 

" In the interests of scientific clearness, I object to say that I have a soul, when I 
mean all the while that my organism has certain mental functions, which, like the 
rest, are dependent on its molecular composition, and come to an end when I die ; and 
I object still more to affirm that I look to the future life, when all I mean is that the 
influence of my doings and sayings will be more or less felt by a number of people 
after the physical components of that organism are scattered to the four winds." — 
Huxley to Agassiz. 

"What is mind but an evolved condition or form of the powers of Nature, like 
light, heat, magnetism ? What are the instincts of animals and the mind of man but 
a result of chemical action or material processes ? " — Atkinson. 

"Matter is the origin of all that exists; all natural and mental forces are inherent 
in it." — B'dchner. 

" Matter contained all the attributes, characteristics, essential qualities, and pecu- 
liar combinations which the whole Univercoilum manifests. . . . Matter and motion 
are co-eternal principles, established by virtue of their own nature ; and they were the 
germ, containing all properties, all essences, all principles, to produce all other forms 
and spheres that are now known to be' existing. ... As matter contains the essence 
and properties to produce man, as a progressive ultimate, so motion contains the 
properties to produce life and sensation. These together, and perfectly organized, 
develop the principle of Spirit. ... To me the grosser matter is impelling the rare 



2G6 IMMORTALITY. 

and refined ; while the rare and refined is pervading the grosser. . . . All ultiniates 
to me are still matter. ... It is a law of matter to produce its ultimate, mind." — 
A. J. Davis. 

As well attempt to heat an oven with snowballs, as to 
expect to get either intelligence or morality out of force or 
motion ; and for the reason that no morality, intelligence, or 
wisdom inhere, as properties, in matter, motion, or blind force. 
It is impossible for matter to impart what it does not possess. 
And so far as this class of writers put life, sensation, and moral 
intelligence into matter, just so far do they give up their 
position that mind is the flower of matter, that the mortal 
originates the immortal spirit, or that a law of matter can 
produce the conscious soul. These frigid and unphilosophi- 
cal notions remind me of what the learned Cud worth says : 

" It has ever been the misfortune of the mere materialist, in his mania for matter on 
the one hand and dread of ideas on the other, to invert nature's order, and thus bang 
the world's picture as a man with his heels upwards." 

Contrasted with inductive thinkers, who make Matter and 
Force the summum-bonum of all things, we turn with delight 
to Plato and Socrates, Proclus and Jesus, Swedenborg and 
Selden J. Finney, — great inspired souls, who saw a universe 
ablaze with God, aflame with essential spirit, and a guiding, 
moulding Intelliofence. Swedenboro- declares that, " There 
is one sole Essence, one sole Substance, and one sole Form, 
the Divine, from which are all essences, substances, and forms 
that are created." Hegel teaches that "the substratum 
underlying all phenomenal existence, is God, the Infinite 
Being." 

" The silver-threaded chords of being run 

Down from God's throne, 
Through the whole universe, from sun to sun, 

From zone to zone ; 
And the same life in human bosoms thrills 

Which guides the spheres, and clothes the verdant hills. " 

" Life is not resultant from organic form, 
But flows through all and fashions tbem ; and 
They are coins, deep printed with the Eternal Name." 

" Matter and motion are 
Results of Truth and Love. 



MATTER AND SPIRIT. 267 

From Love prcceedetk force, 

From Truth unfolclcth form 

These make the universe ; 

And matter is the type 

Of Wisdom in its forms ; 

And Motion is the type 

Of living Love, that flows 

With infinite desire 

Into created things." T. L. Hakris. 

That deductive thinker, Selden J. Finney, one of the most 
brilliant minds in the ranks of Spiritualists, observes that : 

" If infinite mind evolved the physical universe, then mind 
first became body, physics. If mind becomes body, form, 
'matter,' it must do so by descent, precipitation; condensation. 
.... Infinite mind descends into ' creation,' its body and 
chronology, only by ' materialization ' of what was at first 
pure spirit; it ascends through the spiritualization of body 
again into pure reason, pure spirit. The two processes are 
equivalent and correlative." 

Dana, our great geologist and mineralogist, says in the 
American Journal of Science and Arts : 

" For the development of man gifted with high reason and 
will, and thus made a power above nature, there was required, 
as A. R. Wallace has urged, a special act of a Beiug above 
nature, whose Supreme Will is not only the source of natural 
law, but the working-force of nature herself, — this I still 
hold." 

It is the soal that constitutes the man, and finite man bears 
a similar relation to God, the Infinite Personality, that a 
crystal drop bears to a perpetual fountain. This is the root- 
thought of pre-existence. Terms must not be confounded. 
There is a wide distinction between personality and individu- 
ality ; the former relates to God, and draws its life directly 
from God, while the latter bears more upon self, is confined 
more to the special, to the body and its functions. Personal- 
ity is both particular and universal ; particular, in that the 
soul has a conscious identity ; universal, in the sense that it 
participates in the life of God, and is one with the universal 
brotherhood of man. Individuality, on the other hand, knows 



268 IMMOBTALITY. 

nothing of the universal, neither of brotherhood, any further 
than it can make other individuals serve itself. Self, and 
what can be appropriated to self, is the limit of its sphere. 

If man was once nothing in the sense of a conscious entity, 
he would have eternally remained in utter nothingness unless 
something — unless a conscious somebody may be originated 
from, and brought into active existence out of nothing — 
which is tantamount to saying — something from nothing ; 
somebody from nobody ! personality from nonentity. 

It is very clear to profound thinkers that once in existence 
as divine man, always in existence. The converse is equally 
true : once absolutely out of existence, never in existence ! 
This logical bulwark has never been successfully assailed by 
materialists. 

In the phrase, once in existence, always in existence, I am 
referring to conscious, or rather to divine man, and not to 
sticks and stones, nor to animals and stinging insects. These 
are fragments — imperfect structures — unfinished temples. 
And no one gifted with intelligence speaks of a conscious 
rock — a divine wolf, or a righteous clog. These are not, and 
never were in existence as consciously rational and morally 
progressive beings. They have not the Spiritual Keystone. 
They are not religious ; neither are they conscious of their 
subordinate consciousness ! And certainly, no logician ever 
affirms of a part what he does of a whole, A slice, slashed 
from a golden orange, thin, irregular, ill-shapen, and seedless, 
is not equal to, nor should it be compared with the well- 
rounded orange. Animals, serpents, and noxious insects are 
but parts, bearing the same relation to man that passing 
thoughts bear to ideas, or shadows to substances. Animals 
and insects were never in existence, as perfect structures, as 
divine entities ; but rather as fleeting organisms serving tem- 
porary uses. 

The problem of pre-existence is included in the provinces 
of mental science, metaphysics, and religion, rather than in 
that of the physical sciences. Soience may afford important 
aid by revealing the laws of movement ; but its sphere being 



MATTEE AND SPIEIT. 269 

limited to the order and sequence of phenomena, it can never 
reveal the nature of things in themselves. 

Herbert Spencer well remarks, that the value of an opinion 
is to be found in the degree of its persistence.* For example, 
the ideas of God, the soul's immortality, and a heaven of 
blessedness, have survived empires, thrones, and races. They 
may be accepted, therefore, as foreshadowings, or rather as 
the synonyms of ultimate verities. And so the belief in pre- 
existence is not merely an occasional opinion of antiquity, but 
is as ancient and persistent as the beliefs in God and a future 
existence. 

Many of the most enlightened minds of all ages and 
countries have taught that man's conscious selfhood is as 

* Professor William Knight, of St. Andrews, Edinburgh University, in a very able 
essay, published in the Fortnightly Eeview, thus speaks of the doctrine of pre-exist- 
ence. " Its root," says he, " is the indestructibility of the vital principle. Let a belief 
in pre-existence be joined to that of posthumous existence, and the dogma is complete. 
It is thus at one and the same time a theory of the soul's origin and of its destination, 
and its unparalleled hold upon the human race may be explained in part by the fact 
of its combining both in a single doctrine. . . . It is probably the most wide-spread 
and permanently influential of all speculative theories as to the origin and destiny of 
the soul. ... It has lain at the heart of all Indian speculation on the subject, time out 
of mind. It is one of the cardinal doctrines of the Vcdas, one of the roots of Buddhist 
belief. The ancient Egyptians held it. In Persia it colored the whole stream of Zoro- 
astrian thought. The Magi taught it. The Jews brought it with them from the cap- 
tivity in Babylon. Many of the Essenes and Pharisees held it. . . . The Apocrypha 
sanctions it, and it is to be found scattered throughout the Talmud. Io Greece, Py- 
thagoras proclaimed it ; Empedocles taught it ; Plato worked it elaborately out, not as 
a mythical doctrine embodying a moral truth, but as a philosophical theory or convic- 
tion. It passed over into the Neo-Platonic school at Alexandria. Philo held it. Plo- 
tinus and Porphyry in the third century, Jamblichus in the fourth, Hierocles and 
Proclus in the fifth, all advocated it in various ways. Many of the fathers of the 
Christian Church espoused it, notably Origen. It was one of the Gnostic doctrines. 
The Manicheans received it, with much else, from their Zoroastrine predecessors. It 
was held by Nemesius, who emphatically declares that all the Greeks who believe in 
immortality believe also in metempsychosis. There are hints of it in Boethius. It 
■was defended with much learning and acuteness by several of the Cambridge Platon- 
ists, especially by Henry More. Glanvill devotes a curious treatise to it, the Lux Ori- 
entalls ; English clergy and Irish bishops were found ready to espouse it. Poets, 
from Henry Vaughn to Wordsworth, praise it. It won the passing suffrage of Hume, 
as more rational than the rival theories of Creation and Traduction. It was held by 
Swedenborg, and it has points of contact with the anthropology of Kant and Schelling. 
It found an earnest advocate in Lessing. Herder also maintained it, while it fasci- 
nated the minds of Fourier and Leroux. Soame Jenyus, the Chevalier Bamsay, and 
Mr. Edward Cox have written in its defence." 



270 IMMOETALITY. 

much a matter of the past as it is to be of the future. The 
proofs of this rest more upon axioms, intuitions, spiritual cog- 
nitions, direct revelations from angels and exalted spirits, to 
prophets, poets, and the seers of the ages, than upon evi- 
dences addressed to the senses or to the didactic faculty. 

Plato says that : 

" In the perpetual circle of nature, the living are made 
out of the dead as well as the dead out of the living. Death 
is a nativity into life ; and what is called generation, is a 
sinking into death." 

An eminent English writer remarks, " that this doctrine, in 
some of its different forms, is at o.nce the doctrine taught in 
the Divine Apocalypse, in the books of Enoch, and Fohi, in 
Bhaga-Vad-Geeta, in the teachings of the Celtic Druids, and 
in the lore of the old Babylonians and the Egyptians." 

The Magi of Persia, in the past, as well as the Buddhists 
of the present, believed in the pre-existent state of the soul. 

Pythagoras, the founder of the Italic school of Greek philos- 
ophy, not only taught pre-existence, but professed to have a 
distinct remembrance of it. 

Plato believed that all the knowledge of laws and prin- 
ciples we acquire in this world is simply a recovery of reminis- 
cence of knowledge which the soul possessed in a previous 
state of existence. Readers of Plato will remember the refer- 
ence to "Meno," where Plato introduces Socrates as making 
an experiment, by way of putting a series of questions to a 
slave of Meno, eliciting from the uneducated youth a geomet- 
rical truth. This done, Socrates triumphantly observed to 
Meno, " I have not taught the youth anything; but simply 
interrogating him, he recalled the knowledge he had in a pre- 
vious existence." Plato further taught that all ideas, types, 
and ultimate forms both precede and succeed their material 
embodiments. 

Ammonius Saccas, founder of that school of eclectic philos- 
ophy known as New Platonism, and among whose disciples 
were Longinus and Origen, was a believer in pre-existence. 

Plotinus, an eminent Greek philosopher, an adept in the 



MATTER AND SPIRIT. 271 

doctrines of the Oriental sages, and a teacher of philosophy 
at Rome from 245 A. D. until his death, was an advocate of 
pre-existence. 

Proclus, a student of Olympi-o-dorus, at Alexandria, and 
for a time at the head of the New Platonic schools, believed 
in pre-existence. 

Apollonius, of Tyanna, a Pythagorean philosopher of the 
first century, venerated for his wisdom by his contemporaries, 
and whose thrillingly interesting life was written by Flavius 
Phil-os-tratus, was a believer in and teacher of pre-exist- 
ence. 

Leibnitz, the most profound philosopher of the seventeenth 
century, held the doctrine of pre-existence as one of his car- 
dinal beliefs. 

Sir Walter Scott makes this observation : " How often do 
we find ourselves in society which we have never before met, 
and yet feel impressed with a mysterious and ill-defined con- 
sciousness that neither the scene, the speakers, nor the sub- 
ject are entirely new ; nay, feel as if we could anticipate 
that part of the conversation which has not yet taken place ! " 

In his -diary he further says : " I cannot, I am sure, tell if 
it is worth marking down, that yesterday, at dinner-time, I 
was strongly haunted by what I would call the sense of pre- 
existence, in a confirmed idea that nothing which passed was 
said for the first time ; that the same topics had been dis- 
cussed, and the same persons had stated the same opinions on 
them. . . . The sensation was so strong as to resemble what 
is called miragv in the desert, or a calenture on board a ship. 
... It was very distressing yesterday, and brought to my 
mind the fancies of Bishop Berkeley about an ideal 
world." 

Sir Bulwer Lytton thus notices this soul-intuition : " How 
strange it is that at times a feeling comes over us, as we gaze 
upon certain places, which associates the - scene either with 
some disremembered and dream-like images of the past, or 
with a prophetic and fearful omen of the future ! . . . Every 
one has known a similar strange, indistinct feeling, at certain 



272 IMMORTALITY. 

times and places, and with a similar inability to trace the 
cause." 

Sir S. C. Groom Napier, one of England's cleverest think- 
ers, is as firm an advocate of pre-existence as are Charles 
and Edward Beecher of America. 

The doctrine of pre-existence was a fundamental one with 
Jesus Christ. These are among his divine teachings. 

" For thou didst love me before the foundation of the 
world." . . . 

" O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the 
glory which I had with thee before the world was." . . . 

"What, and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up 
where he was before." . . . 

" I came forth from the Father, and am come into the 
world; again I leave the world, and go to the Father." 

" No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came 
down from heaven." 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, 
I am." 

" And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, 
with the glory which I had with -thee before the world was ; 
. . . for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." 

Plato emphatically declares — "Our soul was something 
before it came to exist in this present human form, whence it 
appears to be immortal, and as such it will subsist for ever 
after death." 

Empedocles, cherishing opinions similar to Plato's, assures 
us that — "There is no production, or anything, which was 
not before ; no new substance made which did not really 
pre-exist; therefore, in the generations and corruptions of 
inanimate bodies, there is no form or quality really distinct 
from the substance produced and destroyed, but only a various 
composition, and modification of matter. But in the gener- 
ation and corruption of men, where the souls are substances 
really distinct from the matter, there is nothing but the con- 
junction and separation of souls, and particular bodies exist- 
ing, both before and after; not the production of any new 



MATTER AND SPIRIT. 273 

soul into being, which was not before, nor the absolute death, 
and destruction of anything into nothing." 

Poets and prophets, being inspired, they get down to the' 
very soul of realities, and I am proud to state that the 
world's great poets have taught pre-existence. Tennyson 
thus sings : 

"Moreover, something is, or seems, 
That teaches me with mystic gleams, 
Like glimpses of forgotten dreams — 
Of something felt, like something here ; 
Of something clone, I know not where ; 
Such as no language may declare." 

Schiller asks : 

' Were once our spirits linked, and intertwining, 
And for that life are still our spirits pining, 
Bound as together in the days of yore, 
Sighing still to be bound once more 
Where vibrant sounds still pour ? 

Yes, it is so ; and thou wert bound to me, 
In the long-vanished years, eternally, 
And from the troubled tablet of my soul 
Unwinds this beautiful and blessed scroll, x 

One with thy love, my soul. 

Round us, in waters of delight, for ever 
Beautifully flowed the heavenly nectar river, 
And where the sunshine bathed Truth's mountain, springs, 
Quivered our glancing wings. 

Weep for the God-like life we lost afar, 
Weep ! Thou and I its scattered fragments are, 
And still the unconquered yearning we retain ; 
Sigh to restore the long and banished reign, 
And grow divine again." 

ScheUing breathes his soul-thoughts in these lines : 

" And in the spheral chime they listening heard 
The soul's high destiny, which, being sunk 
Into this fleeting life, through obscure paths 
Must wander, fighting still a God-like fight- 
Victor through death ! 

Wordsworth assures us — 

"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; 
The soul that rises with us our life's star, 

18 



274 IMMORTALITY. 



And cometh from afar, 

Not in entire forgetfulness, 

And not in utter nakedness, 
But trailing clouds of glory, do we come 
From God, who is our home." 

Goethe, contrasting the thorns of this with the flowers of 
the Paradisaical state, writes : 

" As oft as I see lilies I feel within me pain, 
And yet am filled with joy immediately again. 
The pain cometh because I've lost that beauty rare, 
Which I from the beginning in paradise did wear." 

An eminent English scholar, exhuming from the dust of 
ages an important document ascribed to Enoch, gives us 
this gem: 

" Prepare thy spirit for its future existence, 
When it hath wakened from the swoon of mortality ; 
These things did he show me, 
That Angel of the Lord of Splendors ; 
The institution of heaven in the heavens, 
And in the worlds that are under the heavens, 
The spirits that delight in each, abide in each, 
Till they descend to take the mortal form." 

Spiritualism demonstrates a future existence, but not the 
soul's immortality. A future immortality implies a pre- 
existent, or past immortality. It seems clear to me that if a 
protoplastic formation originated, evolved, and built up essen- 
tial man, involving the personal identity, it may, and necessarily 
must, by the law of involution, return again to protoplasm. 

Lucretius and his disciples were materialists. Inasmuch as 
types, or essential forms, with them, were not co-existent with 
substance, but effects, or derivative results, consequent upon 
the differentiation and integration of substance ; so these 
beginnings necessitated endings. Bodies were ephemeral. 
Their destiny was to suffer resolution into the primitive sub- 
stance. 

It was precisely upon this point that Agassiz took issue 
with materialists. The former held, with Plato, that ideas and 
ultimate forms were co-existent with substance. He taught 






MATTER AND SPIRIT. 275 

that they had a spiritual basis, antedating their material 
embodiments. It is not sufficient to say that man existed in 
essence before he became a personal identity. If that identity 
was produced, if it be a result, an effect consequent upon 
molecular action and material change, then no " key-stone " 
in the archway of organization will insure that identity from 
final resolution into that " fiery cloud," in which Tynclal 
informs us the genius of Raphael and Shakspeare were once 
latent. 

Every argument, against pre-existence is, so far as entitled 
to the name, an argument against the immortality of the soul. 

Divine man, according to Plato and the world's great 
thinkers, is an embodiment of substance, force, and form; or, 
as Swedenborg expresses it, Love, Wisdom, and Life. With 
Plato, idea, form, and type, meant the same thing, namely, 
existence as it is in itself. Hence, with this great thinker, 
ideas were subjective realities, and should always be distin- 
guished from the visible shapes which matter exhibits to the 
senses. Visible shapes and material contents come and go ; 
they are ephemeral, fleeting ; but the essential form, which is 
invisible, is enduring and immortal. 

Materialism knows the existence of nothing in the universe 
that is persistent, except matter and force ; and its range is 
from matter to matter. In its last analysis, it amounts to 
this: A creeping worm and the royal sage, — a beefsteak, a 
prayer-book, and a divine soul are all the same originally, — 
atoms — protoplasmic atoms, adjusted and arranged for spe- 
cific aims and ends, by non-designing and non-inteiligent 
molecular force. And so all conscious life — all exalted aspi- 
rations, beginning in, must necessarily end in matter, for no 
stream can rise above its fountain. 

The only crumb of comfort deducible from this theory was 
poetically and sadly expressed by Colonel R. G. Ingersoll, 
over the dead body of his brother : " Life is a narrow vale 
between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We 
strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and 
the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the 



276 IMMORTALITY. 

voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word. 
The loved and loving brother, husband, father, friend, died 
where manhood's morning almost touches noon, and while 
the shadows were still falling towards the West. He had not 
passed on life's highway the stone that marks the highest 
point, but being weary, for a moment he lay down by the 
wayside, and using his burden for a pillow, fell into that 
dreamless sleep that kisses down his eyelids still. While yet 
in love with life and raptured with the world he passed to 
silent and pathetic dust." 

How unlike are the above words to the following sweet and 
trusting lines of Wm. Cullen Bryant : 

"So tli e y pass 
From stage to stage along the shining course 
Of that fair river, broadened like a sea. 
As its smooth eddies curl along their way, 
They bring old friends together ; hands are clasped 
In joy unspeakable; the mother's arms 
Again are folded round the child she loved 
And lost. Old sorrows are forgotten now, 
Or but remembered to make sweet the hour 
That overpays them ; wounded hearts that bled 
Or broke are healed forever." 

" Fare well for ever," is the echo of Materialism at the 
tomb; while Spiritualism, all golden with the crowning 
graces — faith, knowledge, trust — exclaims, " Peace to these 
ashes ; meet me in the Morning Land ! " 

The sorrowing, heart-stricken mourner just as naturally 
turns toward Spiritualism as do dew-laden flowers toward 
the light in the East. 

Spiritualism, in its best definition, is a phenomenon, a phi- 
losophy, and a religion ; the latter its chief glory. It inspires 
during life to holy endeavor. Its genius is : Be true to God, 
true to others, and thus necessarily be true to yourself. It 
does not drape the mourner's home in gloom, but lifting the 
curtain of darkness, shows heart-stricken weepers those they 
love — ay, more : it brings their glorified forms into their 
very presence, permitting them to clasp their white hands, 
and listen to their tender musical words of undying affection. 



THE GENERAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 277 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE GENERAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 

" He said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be 
lost." John vii. 12. 

" To me the spirit world is tangible. It is peopled with persons and forms palpable 
to the appreciation. Its multitudes are veritable, its society natural, its language 
audible, its companionship real, its loves distinct, its activities energetic, its life intel- 
ligent, its glory discernible ; its union is not that of sameness, but of variety brought 
into moral harmony by the great law of love, like notes, which, in themselves distinct 
and different, make, when combined, sweet music. There will be choice and prefer- 
ence and degrees of affinity in Heaven. Each intellect will keep its natural bliss, 
each heart its elections. Groups there will be, and circles. Faces known and 
unknown will pass us ; acquaintances will thrive on intercourse, and love deepen with 
increasing wisdom." Rev. W. H. H. Murray. 

Diversity is as much a law of the universe as unity, and 
each and all, whether on earth or in spirit life, aspect from 
their own plane of existence. This is a necessity of individ- 
uality. 

No two grains of sand, nor blazing stars, are precisely 
alike. " One star," said the Apostle Paul, " differeth from 
another star in glory ; so also is the resurrection of the dead," 
— and so it is also with mind, or rather the immortalized 
intelligences that people the world of spirits. Being in dif- 
ferent states, influenced by different motives, members of 
different societies and occupying different spheres, they neces- 
sarily perceive the scenery of the higher life, and describe 
their employments there, in accordance with the idiosyncra"^ 
sies of character, as well as with the variety and capability of 
their descriptive talents. 

Just imagine several diverse characters reaching our shores 
from London for the purpose of instructing us in the real- 
ities — the shame and the glory of London life. These shall 
embody patricians and plebeians, prince and peasant, judge 



278 IMMORTALITY. 

and criminal, schoolman and tyro, scientist and shopkeeper, 
and other types of caste and conditions. It is plain enough that 
these persons, seeing London with different eyes, and while 
perhaps strictly honest, would strangely differ in their descrip- 
tions. What would the novice know of the poets' library? 
And what conception could the poor day-toiler give us of the 
international questions often discussed in Parliament, or in 
the private councils of Court life ? And yet, each of these 
characters would give substantially the same description of 
those features of London life accessible to common observa- 
tion — such as the parks and gardens, the course of the 
Thames, the dust and the fogs during certain seasons. And 
so spirits agree in regard to the general verities pertaining to 
spirit life — agree that there are landscapes and flowers, trees 
and running streams, houses and gardens, magnificent moun- 
tains and dismal lowlands, libraries and pictures, sympathies 
and antipathies, joys and sufferings, harmony and jarring dis- 
cords. 

Nevertheless, the accounts and life histories we have from 
spirits, relating to life in the spirit world, differ quite as much 
in detail as would those of diverse characters, relative to the 
environments pertaining to this mortal existence. No indi- 
vidual spirit connected with the lower spheres is intromitted 
into every phase of spirit life, any more than the fellow-craft 
Mason is allowed to associate with Royal Arch companions, 
or the peasant is admitted to the higher gradations of social 
life in Europe. Indeed, inasmuch as the societies and associ- 
ational groups are governed by the immutable laws of attrac- 
tion, the limitations of the individual environment are far 
more restricted in spirit life than on earth. 

The mental and moral states, as embraced by virtue and 
vice, aspiration and ambition, refinement and coarseness, 
generosity and selfishness, rear as it were adamantine walls of 
separation between the various gradations and classes of 
individuals, far more impenetrable than the lines of separation 
that keep distinct the moral and social conditions that obtain 
in the earthly life. 



THE GENERAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 279 

Averaging the general testimonies of spirits relative to their 
beliefs and moral states, their homes and employments, they 
teach the existence of God ; they affirm that when vast par- 
liaments of angels and white-robed saints meet in council, 
they reverently bow for a moment in silent adoration. 

They teach, the existence of the man Christ Jesus ; and 
remembering his moral lessons taught on earth, and made 
cognizant of the divine love he manifests in the Celestial 
Spheres, they speak of him only in terms of tenderness and 
reverence. 

They teach, the naturalness of the descent of the Divine 
Spirit, such as overshadowed the apostles on the day of 
Pentecost, and such as is still poured out upon the unselfish 
and prayerful souls of to-day. 

They teach, the reality of the spirit life, the lower sphere 
being an almost exact counterpart of this physical world. This 
lower sphere is the region, the abiding-place of earth-bound 
spirits, — spirits whose loves and attractions still center upon 
material things ; spirits who retain their old theological 
notions and angular idiosyncrasies ; spirits who promise much 
and perform little, who speculate, who indulge in selfish 
schemes, who are addicted to the most unworthy frivolities. 

They teach, that escaping from the body, mortals do not 
escape from themselves; do not escape the results of their 
sowings ; do not in the twinkling of an eye grasp all knowl- 
edge, nor enter the elysian fields of unalloyed bliss antece- 
dent to the necessary disciplines. 

They teach, that the life the spirits enter upon after death 
is a sphere of struggle and moral conquest ; that every moral 
altitude attained is a victory for the soul, purchased by self- 
denial, by aspiration, by persistent effort, and holy endeavor. 

They teach, that spirit life is an active life, a social life, a 
constructive life, a retributive life, a progressive life, with 
schools, and lyceums, and museums, and universities. 

They teach, that as Judas went to his own place, so 
spirits, disenthralled from physical matter, gravitate by virtue 
of fixed spiritual laws to their own appropriate spheres, which 



280 IMMORTALITY. 

spheres and states are determined by their own ruling loves 
and desires. The lowest of these are termed prisons, and to 
these missionaries from the higher spheres descend with w^ords 
of hope, and hearts full of help for those who have departed 
from the ways of life and the paths of divine order. 

They teach, that very ancient spirits seldom descend into 
the enveloping atmosphere of this earth, and then they de- 
scend as messengers, knowing the past, and, with vision un- 
veiled, touching the future of society on earth. They come 
to dethrone emperors, to pull clown haughty dynasties, to 
give freedom to serfs in Russia and to slaves in America, to 
impart a new impetus to the hidden forces of the race, and 
to initiate movements necessary for the inauguration of new 
cycles in the progress of man in this rudimentary world. 

They teach, that as minds in spirit life affect minds on 
earth, so miuds on earth affect, indirectly at least, those in 
spirit life ; that as spirits, one class may teach us, so we may 
teach and benefit another class in spirit life ; and so the two 
worlds may — nay, must progress together. 

They teach, that the inhabitants of earth are open to the 
influx of those who have cast aside their bodies, both good 
and bad, and that we are benefited or injured by intercourse 
with them, according to the motives that prompt us, and the 
influences they exert over those who invite their presence. 
Many pass into spirit life with downward tendencies, morbid 
appetites, and moral obliquities, which they seek to gratify 
by coming into sympathetic relations with sensitive persons. 
Others, going with clannish instincts not outgrown, return to 
advance the selfish schemes of earthly relatives, at the expense 
of credulous and mediumistic persons, whom they can persuade 
to become instruments for their use. 

They teach, that memory is a recording angel — that the 
moral cowardice we have been guilty of, the false pretenses 
that we have hidden behind, the selfish motives that have 
guided, the vile passions not resisted, the scheming motives 
that have ruled our conduct, will all meet us in judgment 
array in the land of soul-revelation, where masks are of no 



THE GENERAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 281 

avail, and all — all these memories will there torture until 
the uttermost farthing has been paid, and due restitution made. 

They teach, on the other hand, that every kind word 
spoken, every generous deed done, every wise sympathy ex- 
pended, every truth vindicated, every pure principle woven 
into their life-garment, as well as every mortal whom we have 
done good unto, will be there in vivid realities to gladden our 
souls, and make more radiant our pathway up on to the shin- 
ing table-lands of a blissful immortality. 

It has been said by the eminent Charles Babbage, that "The 
track of every canoe, of every vessel which yet disturbed the 
surface of the' ocean, whether impelled by manual force or 
elemental power, remains for ever registered in the future 
movement of all succeeding particles which may occupy its 
place. The furrow which it left is indeed instantly filled up 
by the closing waters ; but they draw after them other and 
larger portions of the surrounding element, and these again 
once moved, communicate motion to others in endless succes- 
sion. . . . The atmosphere we breathe is the ever-living wit- 
ness of the sentiments we have uttered ; the waters and the 
more solid materials of the globe bear equally enduring testi- 
mony of the acts we have committed. 

" Thus considered, what a strange chaos is the wide atmos- 
phere we breathe ! Every atom, impressed with good and 
with ill, retains at once the motions which philosophers and 
sages have imparted to it, mixed and combined in ten thou- 
sand ways with all that is worthless and base. The air itself 
is one vast library, on whose pages are for ever written all that 
man has ever said or woman whispered. There, in their 
mutable but unerring characters, mixed with the earliest as 
well as with the latest sighs of immortality, stand for ever 
recorded, vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled, perpetuat- 
ing in the united movements of each particle the testimony 
of man's changeable will — the testimony of eternal justice." 

They teach, that God's love spans all worlds, reaches 
through all time, and is redemptive in purpose ; that Jesus 
Christ not only after the crucifixion " preached to spirits in 



282 IMMOETALITY. 

prison," but that he is still preaching to spirits imprisoned in 
darkness ; that the angels of God are preaching ; that martyrs 
for truth are preaching, and that the good of all past ages 
are preaching; that, through self-abnegation, purity of pur- 
pose, and consecration of all to divine uses, they may win 
souls, and harvest them even into the Christ Heavens. 

They teach, that seances for spirit communion should be 
held in consecrated places, should be conducted with deco- 
rum, should be overshadowed with an orderly and religious 
spirit ; that they should be opened with music, invocations, 
and prayers ; and that the business affairs and childish frivoli- 
ties of life should be held in abeyance ; that the subjects of 
converse may relate more fully to soul-growth, daily duties, 
moral obligations, and those sublime principles that take hold 
upon the verities and responsibilities of eternal life. 

They teach, that birds and animals abound in their forests, 
sing in their groves, and add to the life and beauty of their 
landscapes ; but in the celestial spheres angels' affections flow 
out to children and congenial souls rather than to insects, 
animals, or any subordinate forms of life. 

They teach, that the child of expectation is inirnortal from 
the sacred moment of embryonic conception, and that it is 
criminal to blast and destroy the bud while yet clinging to 
the maternal tree of life. 

They teach, that suicides suffer intense remorse, deep soul- 
agonies, for taking that which they cannot impart ; and that • 
they are necessitated by a law of their being to remain near 
the earth — to prevent others from like rash acts, to make 
expiatory amends, and thus finish up as best they may the 
undone work of earth. 

They teach, that there is no structural disorganization, no 
disintegration of the spiritual body, in the process of dying, 
but that death is the birth of the spirit — the second birth ; 
that it leaves the body somewhat as the bird does the shell ; 
and that often the truly good and maturely ripened souls of 
earth do not even become unconscious in the exchange of 
worlds. 



THE GENERAL TEACHINGS OF SPIEITS. 283 

They teach, that it makes no difference whether the dying 
repose on beds of cotton or feathers, or swing in wind- 
swayed hammocks; but that the excited sympathies, the 
wringing of hands, the loud meanings, do make a difference, 
retarding the emancipation, clouding the spiritual vision, and 
otherwise unpleasantly affecting the sublime processes of the 
soul's deliverance. 

They teach, that the smiles which wreathe the face of the 
corpse were caused by their dying eyes gazing into the land 
of beauty and blessedness. When Mirabeau was passing 
over, he ordered his friends to scatter perfumed roses over 
him, and then added : " Let me die now to the sound of deli- 
cious music." When Bcehmen was leaving for the heavenly 
land, he said to his son, " Do you hear that excellent music? " 
" Nay, father." — " But /hear it," said the dying seer, " and 
I go now into Paradise." When Mozart, that master of song, 
was about to leave for the life elysian, he looked longingly 
toward his instruments of music, and partially swooning, ex- 
claimed, "I hear music — .a new song from angel choirs!" 
These died with smiles resting upon their calm countenances. 

They teach, that vice and misery — that virtue and happi- 
ness, as cause and effect, are linked together in bonds as firm 
as the immutable laws of causation, and that self-sacrifice, 
goodness, and purity must precede happiness in every and in 
all worlds. 

They teach us, especially those in the higher spheres, the 
necessity of self-reliance, urging us to hear, to study, and 
judge for ourselves, and to rely for truth upon intuition, rea- 
son, and our best judgment, seeking, of course, help from the 
good on earth and those in the Leavens. 

They teach, that many of the impressions, and most of the 
vivid dreams of mortals, are visions, revealing in the stillness 
of the night golden glimpses of immortality. 

They teach, that physical deformities of body do not obtain 
in the higher life ; that ugliness of features fades gradually 
away, and that those who die infirm and aged soon regain 
their elasticity and perfection of manhood. 



284 IMMOETALITY. 

They teach, that nationalities, tribes, form, face, and com- 
plexion, differ quite as much upon the entrance into the spirit 
world as with us ; but that these gradually lessen as spirits 
progress toward the true and the beautiful. 

They teach, that angels and truly good spirits appear calm, 
joyous, and royal in deportment, their garments, frequently 
dazzling in brightness; while evil-inclined spirits appear 
dark, sullen, and are clothed in stained, if not in tattered, 
vestures. 

They teach, that there are no boasting atheists, no sardonic 
scoffers at religion, in the heavenly spheres. Arrogant irreli- 
gious scoffers at the sanctities of life and the moral obliga- 
tions relating to God and duty, people the hells of pride, 
self-sufficiency, and discord. 

They teach, that less developed spirits have their petty 
plans, their envies, and their jealousies, as do mortals ; and 
that with few exceptions they sympathize with and sustain 
their mediums, right or wrong. 

They teach, those in the higher heavenly realms, that the 
spiritual world is more analogous to this world than similar. 
It is real, yet infinitely more ethereal and subjective. They 
farther teach that it is the testimony of God and angels, 
through nature and revelation, that we must live the divine 
life or die the death — that wisdom's gate is narrow — that the 
fire must try every man's works, and that we must " over- 
come " to receive the new name, the white stone, and the 
crown immortal. 

They teach, that it is much easier to outgrow and cast aside 
errors and vices while in this world, than to defer a work, so 
important to be done, until entrance into the future state of 
existence. " You will live there as you are living now," 
writes the distinguished Rev. Stainton-Moses ; " by the acts 
and habits of your daily life, you are preparing for your- 
self the place of your future habitation. The filthy is the 
filthy still, as the pure in heart preserves his purity. You are 
working out your own salvation, or preparing to yourself 
misery and woe. 



THE GENEBAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 285 

" And what of the friends of earth, with whom my interests 
are so bound up that to sever them would be to tear out the 
heart-strings, and destroy the half of myself? They live 
still, the same friends, with the same interests, and the same 
affections. If you desire to join them, and to associate your- 
self with those who can lead you on, forward and upward, 
you must live as in their presence, under their piercing eye : 
you must energize to lead the life that has elevated and en- 
nobled them, — the life of self-abnegation and self-discipline? 
as of one who subdues the flesh to the spirit, and subordinates 
the temporal to the eternal." 

They teach that, in correspondence with body and soul, we 
live in two worlds now; that a " cloud of witnesses " sur- 
rounds us ; that invisible guests walk by our sides, witness- 
ing our toils and struggles, and listening in sadness or rapture 
to the breathing words that drop from our lips. 

They teach, that the still small voice of Grocl, that the in- 
spirations of Christ angels and heavenly ministering spirits, 
are ever calling — calling the children of earth to come up 
higher ! 

Appealing now to materialists and sectarists alike, may I 
not in all sincerity ask, Are not these teachings beautiful ? 
Are they not divine ? And if they were practically outlived 
by all tribes and races, would not our world be soon trans- 
formed into an Eden, such as poets in all ages have sung, and 
seers, in moments of exaltation, have prophesied? 

Spiritualism does not ask the Christian, the Brahman, or 
Buddhist to disbelieve his Bible, but to rightly interpret and 
understand it. It does not seek to undermine Religion, nor 
render obsolete the beautiful lessons and moral teachings of 
Jesus Christ. 

"So far from setting aside the essential ideas of true. 
Christianity," writes that eminent essayist and reviewer, A. 
E. Newton, " I affirm that modern Spiritualism has furnished 
illustration and convincing proof of them, such as can be had 
from no other source, and such as should elicit the interest 
and joy of every professed believer in rational Christianity. 



286 IMMORTALITY. 

Not only do the facts of Spiritnalism demonstrate the reality 
of a future life, of inspiration and spiritual interpositions 
(miracles so called), which are basic facts of Christianity, 
but it also gives us the philosophy and uses of many of the 
peculiar rites and practices of the Church : such, for example, 
as baptism, the laying on of hands, the eucharistic supper, 
the customs of singing and prayer in public assemblies, of 
fastings, of invocations of saints and angels, and many others, 
which have been observed for the most part traditionally and 
blindly." 

The cold, indifferent negations of Agnosticism find no en- 
couragement in Spiritualism. Faith leads to knowledge. As 
the temple rises the scaffolding disappears. Methods are 
ever changing. And it is among the hopeful tendencies con- 
nected, with Spiritualism, that, while less iconoclastic, it is 
becoming each year more catholic, more religious, and more 
reverent. This is clearly indicated in " Higher Aspects of 
Spiritualism" a most excellent book just from the press, by 
the Rev. Stainton-Moses, of the London University. Treat- 
ing of the God-idea, relative to spirit-teaching, this author 
says : " God is spoken of by exalted spirits as the Supreme, 
All-wise Ruler of the Universe, the Object of the ceaseless 
adoration of all created sentient beings. No spirit who com- 
municates with earth, however long his spirit-life may have 
been, pretends to have seen Him, or to have penetrated to 
His presence. They know more of the operations of His 
laws ; they are more deeply penetrated with a sense of His per- 
fection, His wisdom, and His love. They insist invariably on 
worship of the Supreme, adoration, praise, meditation, and 
prayer. They tell of constant adoration and praise on their 
part. They inculcate on us the same, and are specially strong 
in insisting on the blessing of meditation and the privilege of 
prayer. They view the latter not as the sort of charm that 
it is to many men, but rather as the link that joins man to 
the ministering angels, who are the intermediary agencies 
between him and his God. 

" Man, they say, is surrounded by « ministering spirits,' of 



THE GENEEAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 287 

whose services he may avail himself if he will, or whom he 
may drive from him by neglect of prayer, by engrossing care 
for the bodily and the earthly, by ignoring the higher spirit- 
ual part of his nature. Constant progressive cultivation of 
higher sentiments in work for God, for his fellow, and for 
himself; a living of the Christ-like life of adoration and 
prayer, and self-denying work, together with that spiritual 
rest which springs from meditation and conscious aspiration 
to a higher and elevated standard, — this is their ideal," . . . 
After pronouncing " this view of God in the new faith," 
spiritualism, as emphatically " that of Jesus Christ," he thus 
continues : " Jesus was, before all, a practical teacher, and in 
so far as his teachings can be sifted out, every one of them 
forms a cardinal point in the teaching of the new faith. 
Purity in thought, word, and deed, as man's chiefest duty to 
himself ; universal philanthropy and loving-kindness ; self- 
sacrifice and self-denial ; humility ; sincerity ; forgiveness of 
injuries ; the worthlessness of mere external ceremony ; the 
Fatherhood of God ; and the universal brotherhood of human- 
ity; — these were the principal points in Christ's teaching, 
and they have lost nothing of their luster now, simply ,because 
they are verities eternally and irreversibly true." 

In consonance with the foregoing, the distinguished Charles 
Beecher, in his work " Spiritual Manifestations," writes 
as follows: "He that loveth is born of God, and knoweth 
God, for Gocl is love. It is love's own absolute self the soul 
pants for, as the hart pants for the water brooks. It is his 
very self inbreathed, as it were, into ourself, however effected, 
with open vision or without, in the body or out of the body, 
which we yearn for as better than life. We see the infinite 
beauty everywhere, but it is veiled. We come near the 
intense effulgence, but it is hid from us. We feel the attrac- 
tion of the central orb ; we are conscious of the glowing love 
of Christ ; we know we are moving on the homeward track, 
arid we tremble with presentiments of what that beatific 
vision may be There is a certain incandescence of 



288 IMMORTALITY. 

soul produced by intense love, which powerfully affects the 
body. Even earthly affection in its purest forms illumines 
and transfigures the countenance. But the love of loves, 
when He reveals himself, produces an inward ardor, per- 
meating the dull tabernacle with cherubic radiance ; an ardor 
which, if carried to its height, must lay the frail form as dead 
at His feet. And is not this the secret of the glory of the 
spiritual body, that it will simply corruscate from within, 
inflamed by His contact? As the star, long circling round 
its remote orbit, rushes blazing to its perihelion, so the exiled 
soul, long absent from its God, rushes incandescent to His 
presence, to go no more out forever." 

Genuine religious spiritualism is in perfect accord with 
Christianity as taught and lived by Jesus Christ. 

Accepting Peter's definition, "I see in Jesus of Nazareth a 
man approved of God among j'ou by miracles, wonders, and 
signs that God did by him." (Acts ii. 22.) 

Truly could he say, " I and my Father are one," — one in 
purpose, one in spirit. He worshiped in spirit. He never 
lost sight of the spiritual world. God does not speak to him 
from without. He feels that God is in him. He needed no 
sound of thunder, like Moses ; no revealing tempest, like Job ; 
nor familiar oracle, like Grecian sage. He consciously lived 
in and with the Father. 

Seen in the light of his Divinity, his pre-eminent greatness 
consisted in his fine harmonial organization ; in a constant 
communion with angels ; in the depth of his sweet spiritual- 
ity ; in the keenness of his moral perceptions ; in the expan- 
siveness and warmth of his Divine sympathies ; in his sincerity 
of heart; in his soul-pervading spirit of obedience to the 
mandates of right ; in his devoted consecration to the highest 
interests of humanity ; and in his complete and perfect trust 
in and unity with God ! 

That Jesus was touched, and his person made radiant with 
the celestial glory of the Christ-Heavens, the light of which 
is God, is evident from these passages: — "No man hath 
ascended into heaven, but He that came down from heaven, 
even the Son of Man, which is in heaven." " This is my 



THE GENERAL. TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 289 

beloved Son in whom I am well pleased;" and, "There 
appeared an angel strengthening him ; " and, " His face did 
shine as the sun, and his raiment seemed white as the light," 
Thus illumined, baptized, and divinely consecrated, he could 
exclaim, "I have overcome the world!" "The Spirit of 
the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach 
the Gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal the broken- 
hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives ... to set at 
liberty those that are bound, and to preach the acceptable 
year of the Lord." 

Cherishing these sublime conceptions of Jesus Christ, I can 
fervently exclaim, Behold "the Way, the Truth, the Life!" 
And, further, I can sincerely say, that I believe in salvation 
through Christ — through the Christ of purity, love, and 
truth, — believe in salvation, or soul-unfoldment through 
Christ, just as I believe in opening buds and green fields 
through the summer showers, and in fruits and waving har- 
vests through the golden sunshine ! Christ, then, is the Sun 
of Righteousness and the Saviour of the World ! 

It is my prayer — the soul-aim of my life, to live and walk 
in the spirit of Christ. And since my visit to Palestine, and 
the seance held in Jerusalem with my traveling companion, 
Dr. E. C. Dunn, — at which time the Evangelists and others 
of the New Testament times came with sweet and holy mes- 
sages, — my faith has been strengthened and confirmed in the 
divinity of Christianity. 

A spirit, of great purity and holiness, referring to Jesus 
Christ, inspired these lines : 

" His robe -was white as flakes of snow 

When through the air descending ; 
I saw the clouds beneath him melt, 

And rainbows o'er him bending ! 
And then a voice — no, not a voice ; 

A deep and calm revealing — 
Came through me, like a vesper strain 

O'er tranquil waters stealing. 
And ever since that countenance 

Is on my pathway shining, — 
A sun from out a higher sky, 

Whose light knows no declining." 

19 



290 IMMORTALITY. 

I have few sweeter memories of the Orient than my personal 
interviews with that Hindu Brahmo — speaker, author, and 
prophet — Keeshub Chunder Sen. He is a man to be loved 
— a man who lives a life of great abstemiousness and purity. 
And this Brahmo seer and teacher declares in the most 
solemn manner that he has seen Jesus Christ and John the 
Baptist. Here are some of his recent stirring words : 

44 It is not politics, it is not diplomacy that has laid firm 
hold of the Indian heart. It is not the glittering bayonet, 
nor the fiery cannon that can make our people loyal. No : 
none of these can hold India in subjection. Armies never 
conquered the heart of a nation. . . . But your hearts have 
been touched, conquered, subjugated by a superior power. 
That power — need I tell you ? — is Christ. It is Christ who 
rules British India, and not the British government. . . . 
None but Jesus, none but Jesus Christ ever deserved this 
bright, this precious diadem, India ; and Jesus, the Prince of 
Peace, shall have it ! . . . He is coming : in the fullness of time 
He will come to you, O young men of India ! He will come 
to you as self-surrender, as the life of God in man, as obedient 
and humble sonship." 

Spiritualism is a most sacred word, because rooted in God 
and relating to Christ and to immortality. Spiritualism, a 
phenomenon, a sunny philosophy, and a divine religion, 
unlocks the treasures of precious memories, and lays at our 
feet the living truths of the present. It leads the thirsty to 
living fountains, feeds the hungry with the bread of heaven, 
and, plucking away the thorns of life, plants along our paths 
the flowers of undying affection. It comes to each and all of 
us personally, pleading with us to pay the price of self-denial, 
spiritualize our natures, purify our affections, overcoming the 
world, thus living in precious memories on earth, immortal 
for the good that we have done. 

"Up and away like the dew of the morning, 

That soars from the earth to its home in the sun ; 
So let me steal away gently and lovingly, 
Only remembered by what I have done. 



THE GENERAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 291 

My name and my place and my tomb all forgotten, 

The brief race of time well and patiently run; 
So let me pass away, peacefully, silently, 

Only remembered by what I have done. 

Gladly away from this toil would I hasten, 

Up to the crown that for me has been won, 
Unthought of by man in rewards or in praise, 

Only remembered by what I have done. 

Up and away, like the odors of sunset, 

That sweeten the twilight as darkness comes on; 
So be my life — a thing felt but not noticed — 

Only remembered by what I have done. 

Yes, like the fragrance that wanders in freshness, 
When the flowers that it came from are closed up and gone, 

So wouldT be to this world's weary dwellers, 
Only remembered by what I have done. 

Needs there the praise of the love written record, 

The name and the epitaph graved on the stone ? 
The things we have lived for — let them be our story, 

Only remembered by what we have done. 

I need not be missed, if my life has been bearing, 

As its summer and autumn moved silently on, 
The bloom and the fruit and the seed in its season, 

Only remembered by what I have done. 

I need not be missed if another succeed me, 
To reap down those fields which in spring I have sown, 

He who ploughed and who sowed is not missed by the reaper; 
He is only remembered by what he has done. 

Not myself, but the truth that in life I have spoken, 

Not myself, but the seed that in life I have sown, 
Shall pass on to ages, — all about me forgotten, 

Save the truth I have spoken, the good I have done. 

So let my living be, so be my dying, 

So let my name lie unblazoned, unknown, 
Unpraised and unmissed, I shall still be remembered ; 

Yes — but remembered by what I have done." 

Life is a pilgrimage ; let us kindly help each other along 
the tiresome journey; for soon, perhaps, shall we put our san- 
dals off, and lay our weary burdens down by the cypress-trees 
that shade Death's peaceful river. And when that tremulous 
hour comes, as it must to each and all, precious will be the 



292 IMMORTALITY. 

memories of kind words spoken, and the good that we have 
done. 

Let us widen, then, all the fraternal relations of life ; culti- 
vate the holier sanctities of the soul, and point the sad and 
tearful to the infinite possibilities that lie invitingly before 
them. 

Let us remember the Christian graces, faith, hope, and 
charity, — forgiving others as Ave hope to be forgiven, and 
blessing others as we hope to be blest of God and the angels 
that do the Divine will. Let us not forget that religion — 
that sweet trust in God — that sincere soul-felt prayer — 
that the baptism of the Christ-spirit, and the blessed minis- 
tries of angels, will prove helps to us in every time of trial. 

Let us abide in the vine, ever keeping in mind the new 
commandment of Jesus, " Love ye one another." " By this 
shall men know that ye are my disciples if } r e have love one 
for another." " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
see God." If I know my own heart it beats in accord with 
the divine effort to better humanity, and throbs in tenderest 
love toward all races and the people of all lands. 

This is the time of unrest — the moral drift period of the 
world. The cycle of myth and dogma is closing. The 
Second Coming is overshadowing us. Jesus with his holy 
angels is in the clouds of Heaven, calling as never before, 
" Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest. Come, make ready to inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world." 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE 

PREFACE, 5 

INTRODUCTION, 7 

CHAPTER I. 

THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE. 

Universality of Life. — God and Atheism. — No real Conflict between Science 
and Religion. — Grandeur of the Soul. — Pre-existence of the Soul. — Matter 
only the Shell of Things. — "Will the Attribute of Force. — Query of a Material- 
ist. — We are the Dead ; our Departed the Living ! 11 



CHAPTER II. 

DOUBTS AND HOPES. 

Comparative Silence of the Old Testament regarding a Future Life. — The cheer- 
ful Hope of Pagan Philosophers. — The Light which Jesus brought. — Mortal 
Life is only preparative for a better, 20 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BRIDGING OF THE RIVER. 

Life and Death two Musical Ripples. — Vegetable and Animal Processes repre- 
sent two Segments in the Circle of Movement. — Three Methods of aspecting 
the Phenomena of Existence. — How the Ancients pictured Death, . . .24 



CHAPTER IY. 

FORE GLEAMS OF THE FUTURE. 

The Hope of Immortality indestructible. — " Poppies of the Age of Plato." — The 
Ether Realm. — Earth Life a primary School. — Wordsworth's Little Maid." . 30 



293 



294 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

TESTIMONY OF SAINTS. 

Mental Lucidity of the Dying. — Testimony of William Hunter. — Montaigne. — 
Isaac T. Hopper. — Phenomena attending Death. — The Poet Keats. — Schiller. 
— Eev J. W. Bailey.— A Quaker Lady. — Rev. S. J. May.— Louis XVI. — 
Mozart. — Other Testimonies, 



CHAPTER VT. 

THE GROWTH AND PERFECTION OF THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 

What materializing Phenomena foreshadow. — Spirit-Body not a new Creation. — 
Sustenance of the Spiritual Body. — Spiritual Body an approximate Image of 
the physical. —Reality of Spirit Life, 48 

CHAPTER VII. 

IS IT THE SOUL OR THE BODY THAT SINS? 

Evil is not " Undeveloped Good." — Character and Reputation. — The Hells 
crowded with respectable Hypocrites. — Moral Qualities inhere in Moral Beings.. 

— The Nature that commits Sin survives Death.— This World a Battle-Ground. 

— Daily Acts construct the Mirror before which we must stand, . . .53 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CLOTHING IN THE SPIRIT WORLD. 

Angel at the Sepulchre. — Raiment of Moses and Elias. — White Robes of the 
Saints. — First Garments worn by Spirits are Gifts. — They change in Color 
according to the Spirit's Growth. — Swedenborg's Testimony, . . . .60 



CHAPTER IX. 

LOCOMOTION IN THE SPIRIT WORLD. 

Miss Fancher. — Personal Experience. — Dr. E. C. Dunn leaves his Body. — Tes- 
timony of a Seer. — Velocity of Spirit Locomotion. — Dr. Pierce of Boston visits 
the Spirit World, 64 



CHAPTER X. 

OUR LITTLE ONES IN HEAVEN. 

Earth is the Seminary of Heaven. — Parting Messages to then.' Parents. — Heaven 
Opened. — " Kittie is gone ! " — Death as seen from the Mount of Spiritualism, . 80 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 295 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF AARON KNIGHT. 

His Transition. — His sad Experience in the Hells. — Prayer for Deliverance. — 
Is visited by an Angel of Light. — Is given Work to do. — Peace purchased by 
unselfish Labors for the Good of Others. —Answers to various Questions, . . 87 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE RED MAN'S TESTIMONY. 

Powhattan's Spirit Home. — Little Indian Girl's quaint Description of her Home. 
— Coacoochee's Experience. — Materialization of Indian Spirits, . . . .101 



CHAPTER XIII. 

EYIL SPIRITS — THEIR DOINGS AND THEIR DESTINIES. 

Swedenborg's Description of the Hells. — Moral Character not changed by Death. 
William Howitt on Unhappy Spirits. — John Jacob Astor's Lament. — Mr. 
Stewart's Exploration of the Hells. —Horror's Camp ! — The Hells mitigated, . 109 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE TESTIMONY OF PHYSICIANS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 

Dr. Jeachris's Experience in Spirit Life. — Answers to Important Questions. — 
Questions answered through Mr. Colville. — Testimony of George Rush. — A 
Talk with William Gordon. — He explains many Important Things through Dr. 
Samuel Maxwell. — An English Physician's Account of his Spirit Home, . . 121 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE HOMES OF APOSTLES AND DIVINES. 

The Homes of the Apostle John. — Rev. Thomas Scott's Confession. — A Swe- 
clenborgian in the City of Arcadia. — A Methodist Minister's Life in the 
Spheres, 143 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE FRIENDS AND SHAKERS IN SPIRIT LIFE. 

Experience of a Quaker Spirit. — Clairvoyant Visions of Elmira P. Allard, a Sha- 
ker Sister. — The Spirit Council. — Excursion on Lake Pleasant. — Visions of 
Eunice Bathrick, a Shaker Eldress, 159 



296 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVII, 
TEE SPIRIT HOME OF BRUNO AND OTHERS. 

The Martyr's Home. — A Voice from South Africa. —The Future of Africa.— 
Spirit Home at Edgar Athcling. — John Stewart's Home in Spirit Life. — Ex- 
cursions in the Spheres. — Description of Fountain-of-Light City. — A Hindoo 
Mystic's Experiences in the Heavens, 170 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

MANY VOICES FROM THE SPIRIT LAND. 

A Sailor's sad Stoiy. — A Strolling Player. — Questions and Answers. — Experi- 
ence of Little Eliza. — Mrs. Colonel Taylor's Experience. — John Knowles' 
Spirit Home. — Spirit Home of John Glover. — Dr. C. H. Barrows. — A Spirit 
through the Mediumship of Mrs. Watson of Memphis. — Home of Mungo 
Park, 184 

CHAPTER XIX. 

CRYSTAL DROPS.— FACTS AND FANCIES OF MANY IN 
SPIRIT LIFE. 
Gems from the Poets and Philosophers. — Sorrow disciplines the Soul. — "We 
possess only what we grow to in Spirit Life. — Relative Power of higher and 
lower Spirits. — Intellectual Acquisitions alone do not bring Happiness. — "We 
must labor to make Others happy, if we Ourselves would be happy. — The Pro- 
priety of Prayer. — Laying aside the Mask. — The Condition of Paupers from 
the large Cities in Spirit Life. — The Dying never Weep, 236 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE TWO THEORIES CONCERNING THE BEGINNING OF 
THINGS. — MATTER AND SPIRIT. 

The Western Mind inductive, while the Oriental Mind is synthetic. — Tbe Mate- 
rialist reasons from a nebulous Chaos. — The Spiritualist reasons from God as 
the Primal Cause. — The Scientists are mostly arrayed on one Side, while the 
Poets and Philosophers are arrayed on the Other. — Distinction between Per- 
sonality and Individuality. — Pre-existence. — Arguments Pro and Con, . . 262 



CHAPTER XXL . 
THE GENERAL TEACHINGS OF SPIRITS. 

The General Teacbings of Spirits. — M. A. (Oxon). — the Opinions of the Rev. 
Charles Beecher. — The Unity of Genuine Spiritualism with the Christianity of 
the New Testament. — " Only remembered for what I have done." . . . 277 



WORKS OF J, M. PEEBLES, M.D. 

Seers of the Ages. 

SiXTn Edition'.— This work, treating of ancient Seers and Sages; of 
Spiritualism in India, Egypt, China, Persia, Syria, Greece and Rome; of 
the modern manifestations, with the doctrines of Spiritualists concerning 
God, Jesus, Inspiration, Faith, Judgment, Heaven, Hell, Evil Spirits, 
Love, the Resurrection, and Immortality, has become a standard work ip 
this and other countries. Price, $2,00, postage 1G cents. 

Travels Around the World; 

OR, WHAT I SAW IN THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS, CHINA, INDIA, 
ARABIA, EGYPT AND PALESTINE. 

This intensely interesting volume of over four hundred pages, fresh with 
the gleanings of something like two years' travel in Europe and Oriental 
Lands, is now ready lor delivery. As a work embodying personal experi- 
ences, descriptions of Asia-tic countries and observations relating to the 
manners, customs, laws, religions and spiritual instincts of different na- 
tions, this, in some respects, is the most important and stirring book that 
has appeared from .he author's pen. Price, §2,00, postage 16 cents. 

Spiritual Harp. 

A fine collection of vocal music for the choir, congregation and social 
circle: is especially adapted for use at Grove Meetings, Picnics, <fcc. Edited 
by J. M. Peebles and J. O. Barrett. E. H. Bailey, Musical Editor. Price, 
|2,00, postage 14 cents; full gilt, §3,00. 

Jesus— Myth, Man or God? 

Did Jesus Christ exist? "What are the proofs? Was he man, begotten 
like other men ? What Julian and Celsus said of him. The Moral Influence 
of Christianity and Heathenism compared. These and other subjects are 
critically discussed. Price, cloth, 75 cents, postage 5 cents; paper, 50 cents. 

'Witch-Poison; 

OR, THE REV. DR. BALDWIN'S SERMON RELATING TO 
W- rCHES, HELL AND THE DEVIL, REVIEWED. 

This is one of the most severe and caustic things published against the 
Orthodox system of religion. Price, 35 cents, postage 3 cents. 

Spiritualism Denned and Defended. 

Being an Introductory Lecture delivered in Temperance Hall, Melbourne, 
Australia. Price, 15 cents, postage 1 cent. 

The Spiritual Teacher and Songster. 

Designed for congregational singing, lyceumsand circles; as well as giv- 
ing a general definition of Spiritualism. Price, 15 cents. 

The Conflict "between Spiritualism and Darwinism. 

A fearless and vigorously written Pamphlet of forty pages, treating of the 
origin of man; the early appearance of the foetus; the unity of the human 
species: the line of demarcation between monkeys and men; the immortal- 
ity of insects, animals, &c. Price, 20 cents. 

Christ the Corner-Stone of Spiritualism 

This Pamphlet treats of the spiritual marvels of Jesus Christ, the phil- 
osophy of salvation through Christ, the belief of Spiritualists and -'jr 
church of the future. Price, 10 cents. 

The Great Ceylon Discussion "between the Buddhists 
and Christians; 

With an introduction and comments by J. M. Peebles. Price, 25 cents. 

Our Homes and Our Employments Hereafter; 

3R, WHAT A HUNDRED SPIRITS SAY ABOUT LIFE IN THE 

SPIRIT- WORLD. 

TMs book is now in press, and will soon be ready for delivery. 

For sale by COLBY & RICH, 9 Montgomery Place, Boston, Mass. 





















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